After speaking, Zouken lowered his stance.
His body rapidly disintegrated in the shadows, transforming into thousands of buzzing, fluttering Crest Worms.
Like a foul whirlwind, the black cloud of insects ignored everyone's attempts to stop them, rushing straight toward the rear of the Ryuudou Temple's main hall—the entrance to the underground Great Cavern.
"This old bastard... he's truly stubborn!"
Kiritsugu Emiya gritted his teeth, attempting to step forward in pursuit.
But the moment his body moved, intense agony caused his knees to buckle, nearly sending him to the ground.
The previous deathmatch with Kirei Kotomine had severely overdrawn his stamina and magical energy, and the malicious corruption of the Holy Grail had only worsened his injuries.
"Damn it... why at a time like this..."
Kiritsugu clutched his still-powerless arm, his eyes full of frustration.
If no one stopped Zouken, that old monster who had gone completely mad for the sake of immortality would definitely set up defensive bounded fields below to prevent the dismantling.
If that happened, Fuyuki City would still be unable to escape its doomed fate.
"I will go."
Tokiomi Tohsaka straightened his somewhat disheveled clothes, lightly tapping his ruby-tipped cane against the ground.
"Everything began with our Three Founding Families, so... it is only fitting that I clean house!"
However, despite his confident words...
Zouken Matou was no ordinary magus; he was an ancient monster who had lived for hundreds of years. Tokiomi was not entirely confident.
"One person isn't enough," Kiritsugu said, enduring the pain as he felt his bones to gauge how much movement he could still handle. "You are the key to the magecraft that will dismantle the Holy Grail. It will be troublesome if you expend too much energy."
"Then what do you propose? Should I let you and that exhausted girl go?"
Tokiomi pointed at Sumire Kamado, who had just awakened from her nightmare and was gripping her broken blade.
Just as things reached an impasse.
*Crack.*
A crisp shattering sound echoed from beside Sumire Kamado.
Everyone instinctively turned their heads.
The Berserker, who had been unconscious and casually placed next to Sumire by Asuka, was now unsteadily getting to his feet.
His Shihakusho was in tatters, and his exposed skin was covered in wounds of varying sizes—the lingering marks of being pierced by the Gate of Babylon.
However, back when they were still in an alliance, Zouken had put a fair amount of effort into healing him.
Now, relying on his magical energy to self-heal, he had at least recovered significantly.
And those eyes.
Those eyes, once filled with madness and slaughter, had now returned to a clear, lucid black.
Although he looked incredibly weak, he finally possessed the gaze of a rational being.
"Ugh... my head hurts..."
Kaien Shiba pressed his temples, letting out a hoarse groan of pain.
His memories were still stuck on that night when, as the Captain of the Tenth Division, he led his squad to the World of the Living's Fuyuki City to investigate a spiritual pressure anomaly.
First, countless Hollows swarmed him in battle, and then came the darkness—endless darkness.
In that darkness, it felt as though a voice was constantly cursing and roaring, suppressing him so fiercely that he could not break free no matter how hard he tried.
Until just now...
A scorching, overbearing fire had burned away that lingering dark aura.
"Where is this..."
Kaien lifted his head, seeing the void dripping with black mud above, the ruined temple around him, and the strangers with varying expressions.
Finally, his gaze landed on the figure standing in front of him, back turned, holding a gold-and-red longsword.
"...Huh?"
Kaien froze.
Although these people all seemed a bit off, he would never mistake the aura radiating from that man.
It was the Spiritual Pressure of a Soul Reaper.
And... it was Captain-level? Which division was he from?
"What in the world... Hiss—"
Kaien instinctively tried to ask, but the movement aggravated his wounds, causing him to wince in pain. "What exactly is going on? I remember I was..."
"No time to explain, big guy,"
Asuka interrupted him, pointing a finger at the underground entrance, then up at the black hole in the sky that looked ready to collapse at any moment.
"Simply put, the world is about to end."
"That hole in the sky is about to explode, and there's an old pervert underground who wants to drag everyone down to the grave with him."
"I don't know how you got dragged into this, but right now, it looks like you're the only free fighter we have left."
Kaien was completely lost, but he soon gleaned some information from the depths of his gradually clearing mind.
It was the knowledge regarding the Holy Grail War that Heaven's Feel had implanted in him at the start of the conflict.
He processed everything in his mind with a sense of disbelief, slowly coming to understand the situation of the people before him.
"The Holy Grail... this is truly..."
Kaien felt the suffocating malice in the air and saw the resolute, death-defying determination in the eyes of those around him.
Although he didn't understand the full cause and effect, one thing was crystal clear to him.
If they didn't do something, everything here—including himself—was doomed.
Kaien rolled his stiff neck, his bones letting out crisp cracks.
He glanced at the man in the red suit who looked like a nobleman.
"Hey, elegant mister over there."
Kaien grinned, flashing his trademark white teeth.
Even though his face was still smeared with blood and grime, his smile was full of a reassuring, sunny bravado.
"I don't know who you are, but it looks like we're teaming up."
"Don't mind my battered body; I still have plenty of strength left to beat someone up! Let's handle that bastard underground together."
Tokiomi paused, looking at the man before him who, despite being covered in wounds, still possessed an overwhelming presence.
Was this really the same Berserker?
He felt a pure, passionate spirit radiating from the man—an entirely different aura from the mad dog he had been before.
But without a doubt, this was good news.
"...It is an honor," Tokiomi said, bowing slightly in a standard magus greeting. "Head of the Tohsaka Family, Tokiomi Tohsaka. I look forward to working with you."
"Captain of the Tenth Division, Kaien Shiba!"
Since his Zanpakuto, Nejibana, had been shattered by Ea, Kaien could only casually pick up a spear belonging to Goldie that had fallen to the ground during the previous battle, weighing it in his hand.
Although it wasn't exactly comfortable to wield, it would suffice.
"Hey! Blondie over there! Let me borrow your weapon for a bit!" he called out, waving at the weapon's owner, a displeased Gilgamesh.
"Hmph... do as you please." The King of Heroes didn't care about lending out a single Noble Phantasm; after all, his treasury was as vast as the sea.
Kaien walked over to Asuka and took a deep look at this mysterious Soul Reaper.
"I don't know who you are or why you're here with me..."
Kaien's voice lowered. "But I can feel that you're the one who saved me. Thanks!"
"Don't die, Captain Kaien,"
"We still have to return to the Soul Society together."
Although Asuka's voice was flat, it still brought a wave of warmth to Kaien's pain-racked body.
Meeting a fellow comrade in a strange land was a comforting feeling.
"...Yeah, it's a promise."
Kaien laughed heartily.
He hesitated no longer, turning to look at Tokiomi Tohsaka. "Let's go, elegant mister! Let's go meet this old monster underground you were talking about!"
"Please follow me closely. The underground is riddled with traps meant for magi."
Tokiomi took one last look at Rin. "Rin! Hurry home! Take your mother and Sakura, and leave Fuyuki City!"
"Unless I contact you, do not return no matter what happens!"
Leaving behind those final words, he resolutely charged into the dark, deep underground passage alongside Kaien.