"Berserker? Arthur Morgan?!"
The moment the old man heard Arthur's introduction, his mind was immediately flooded with questions.
He searched desperately through his memory.
Historical records of heroes and extraordinary figures bearing that name—
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find any reference that matched it.
Of course, there were figures named Arthur or Morgan separately, but none under the name Arthur Morgan.
That alone was already strange.
However, there was something even more disturbing.
The class that had been summoned was Berserker.
A Berserker should be an existence consumed by madness—a Heroic Spirit that sacrifices reason in exchange for overwhelming power.
And yet…
The man standing before him spoke with perfect clarity.
His posture was calm, and his eyes were lucid.
There was no sign of the insanity typical of the Berserker class.
Even so, the Command Seal on the girl's hand was undeniable.
He was a Servant.
Although countless questions remained unanswered, there was one thing the old man understood perfectly.
The presence of that Heroic Spirit represented an opportunity.
A truly extraordinary opportunity.
If he could control him…
Then he could use him as his weapon in the upcoming Holy Grail War.
If he won, he would finally obtain the Holy Grail.
And if he lost…
He could still eliminate an inconvenient obstacle.
Additionally, he could continue his experiment—the artificial transformation of the girl delivered to him by the Tohsaka family.
Thinking of this, the old man turned his gaze back to the girl.
A gentle smile appeared on his face—or at least something that tried to resemble one.
In truth, it was grotesque.
"Sakura…" he said sweetly. "Come to grandpa."
He opened his arms.
"If you promise to obey grandpa, then I won't throw you back in here again."
Unfortunately…
His words held no value.
After everything she had experienced since arriving in that family, Sakura could no longer believe anything that came from that monster.
Now, there was only one person she felt she could trust.
The man who had appeared before her.
The one with whom she felt a strange and inexplicable connection.
At the sound of the old man's voice, Sakura's body trembled.
She suppressed her fear with all her strength.
Then, her small hand tightly grasped the red cloak hanging from the lower part of Arthur's armor.
As if that simple gesture alone could protect her from the entire world.
Arthur looked at her.
A gentle smile appeared on his face as he softly stroked the girl's head.
"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to you."
He ran his hand through her hair again.
"I'm here."
Feeling the touch of that large, steady hand, Sakura slowly nodded.
That simple gesture conveyed something she had almost forgotten existed.
Safety.
Even so, she did not let go of his clothes.
Not even for a moment.
Noticing this, a brief trace of sadness passed through Arthur's eyes.
Then he raised his head and looked at the old man.
All the gentleness in his gaze vanished, replaced by a deep, chilling coldness.
"You disgusting worm…"
His voice became completely indifferent.
"Your mere existence is an insult to me."
With a careful motion, he covered little Sakura's head, blocking her view.
In the next instant, golden portals opened around the old man.
Immediately, countless weapons shot out from them, tearing his body apart with ease.
However, something strange happened.
His body dissolved instantly into a grotesque mass of worms.
They writhed across the ground before gathering again—
Reforming the old man's body.
A repulsive smile appeared on his face.
"Don't think it'll be that easy to kill me."
He slowly raised his wooden cane.
At the far end of the basement, a pit of worms began to stir.
The sight alone was enough to make anyone with a fear of worms faint on the spot.
Arthur grimaced.
"That's disgusting."
Even he felt nauseated at the sight.
It was a purely physiological reaction.
But when he thought about the fate that awaited Sakura if he hadn't arrived…
His expression turned cold.
"Kneel," Arthur said, his voice even colder.
Immediately, a wave of suppression fell upon Zouken, forcing him to his knees.
"Wha—"
Before he could say anything else, Arthur touched his forehead and extracted his soul.
The world seemed to fall silent.
"This is the first time I'll be using this," Arthur murmured as he activated Judgment, a sub-ability of his Ultimate Skill Anubis — Lord of Souls.
At that moment, a scale appeared in his hand.
On one side, there was a golden feather.
On the other, Zouken's soul.
"N-No… this can't be…!"
For the first time in centuries, Zouken trembled with pure fear.
Arthur remained silent.
"Let us begin your judgment, filthy creature."
The moment Arthur finished speaking, the scale trembled—
Then slammed violently toward Zouken's side.
His existence was corrupted beyond redemption.
"Your soul has been deemed unworthy," Arthur said in a monotone voice.
At that moment, a creature—half crocodile, half lion—appeared before them and devoured Zouken's soul.
"Is it just me, or did this Ultimate Skill get stronger?" Arthur muttered, looking at Zouken's lifeless body on the ground.
"On the other hand… I can feel that I've grown weaker in other aspects… How strange… Could it be because I was summoned as a Heroic Spirit rather than in my real body?"
Holding Sakura in his arms, Arthur calmly walked out of the mansion.
Without saying a word, he extended his hand toward it.
Immediately, a spatial distortion formed and began pulling everything into itself.
Arthur had created a small singularity to erase every trace of that mansion.
Within seconds, nothing remained of the former Matou estate.
Without even glancing back, Arthur—still holding Sakura—walked away.
---
The Holy Grail War is a magical ritual in which seven mages compete for the Holy Grail, known as the "omnipotent wish-granting device."
In this ritual, the seven mages chosen by the Grail summon Servants to fight at their side.
Approximately every sixty years, the spiritual veins beneath the city of Fuyuki accumulate enough energy to sustain the Grail's manifestation.
When that moment arrives, the Grail descends upon the world, capable of granting any wish within the limits of its power.
For that reason, mages from all over the world—driven by ambition, desperation, or obsession—gather in Fuyuki, willing to fight to the death for the right to claim it.
However, the true nature of the Holy Grail War is far more complex.
It is, in reality, a massive ritual system created by the three great founding families—Einzbern, Tohsaka, and Makiri (later known as Matou)—with the goal of reaching the Root.
In this process, the summoned Heroic Spirits are nothing more than fuel.
Sacrifices required to complete the ritual.
Naturally, true heroes could never be consumed in such a way by mere humans.
Thus, the summoned Heroic Spirits are not the original heroes, but projections drawn from the Throne of Heroes.
Because of that, their power is reduced upon summoning—typically to about one-tenth of what they possessed in life.
Regardless of what happens to these projections, the true Heroic Spirit remains unaffected—and in most cases, no memories are carried back.
Exactly one year remained until the Fourth Holy Grail War.
As for why he had been summoned so early…
Arthur had no idea.
But at the moment, that wasn't important.
Because there was a far more immediate problem.
Where he and little Sakura would spend the night.
For Arthur, it didn't matter much where he slept—or even whether he slept at all.
But Sakura was different.
She was only six years old.
After everything that had happened that day, both physically and mentally, she was completely exhausted.
Nestled in Arthur's arms, her head slowly drooped, her eyes losing focus as sleep overtook her.
Even so, her hands remained tightly clinging to him, refusing to let go.
She was afraid that the moment she released him…
He would disappear.
To Sakura, Arthur was the only thing she could trust in that world.
If even he disappeared…
Then the last flicker of hope within her would be extinguished.
And Arthur understood that.
He understood his responsibility.
It wasn't just because she was his Master.
It was the responsibility of saving a helpless child from a terrible fate.
"Ah… seriously. Why do I always end up in situations like this?"
Letting out a small sigh, Arthur leaped and landed atop a building.
His pupils turned a faint emerald green, glowing softly in the darkness.
Using his Clairvoyance, he began searching through the silent streets of Fuyuki for a suitable place—a residence, or anywhere they could safely spend the night.
After all…
He couldn't allow Sakura to sleep out in the open.
---
(End of Chapter)
A/N: I am going to do a review and probably a rewrite of the Nier Automata arc, so I will reduce to 1 the chapters updated during this week and MAYBE the next one