BOOM!
In the end, Alvin alternated his left and right fists, completely shattering the pink pillar of light inside the Tohsaka residence.
Like waking from a dream, Tohsaka Rin opened her eyes in an instant.
"Strange... why am I here?"
She looked around in confusion and said instinctively, "Illya, Caster... why are you in my yard?"
Right after that came a voice full of confusion and disbelief.
Alvin finally relaxed a little and said, "Let's go back inside and talk slowly."
"Rin, wait a second."
At that moment, Illya suddenly stopped Tohsaka Rin as she was about to head inside.
Alvin looked at Illya strangely. She gave him a faint smile, "It's nothing. I just want to talk to Rin about some girl stuff."
Merlin gave Illya a meaningful look and said, "Alvin, let's go in first."
After the two Servants entered the house, Tohsaka Rin seemed to notice the subtle and suggestive look in the doll-like girl's eyes. She frowned slightly and said, "What is it, Illya?"
"Did you just kiss Nii-chan... your own Servant?"
The sudden taboo question struck directly into the deepest part of Tohsaka Rin's heart. Her beautiful eyes widened as she stared at Illya in disbelief.
Soon, the tips of Rin's ears became burning hot. The scenes from inside the room surfaced in her mind: tangled fingers, hurried damp breaths, and the buttons undone at her collar.
Illya stepped closer with a smile, her ruby-like eyes fixed on Rin curiously, "What does kissing feel like? Can you tell me?"
Tohsaka Rin finally snapped back to herself and stammered, "W-What are you suddenly talking about?"
"Stop pretending, Rin."
Illya interrupted her, "The Beast of Desire doesn't tamper with other people's memories, you know?"
She leaned close to the girl's ear and said softly, "The feelings you have for your Servant... probably aren't just the feelings between Master and Servant anymore, right, Rin?"
The cold wind swept up the snow resting on the dead branches in the yard. Illya's smile looked innocent and bright, while Tohsaka Rin unconsciously rubbed the folds of her skirt, her knuckles turning pale from the pressure. The place still carried the warmth from Alvin touching her earlier.
The atmosphere fell quiet. Only the occasional sound of wind and snow echoed through the backyard.
"Ha... huh?"
After who knew how long, Tohsaka Rin opened her eyes wide in disbelief, shock written across her face.
Then two red patches appeared on her cheeks without her noticing, "Illya, what are you suddenly talking about?"
"A Master only has one goal in joining the Holy Grail War, and that's obtaining the Greater Grail, right? How could a qualified Master have feelings for their own Servant that go beyond the Master-Servant relationship?"
Every word revealed exactly how the eldest daughter of the Tohsaka family was feeling right now.
Clearly, she was flustered.
Illya tilted her head innocently, "So I misunderstood?"
"Of course! Besides, you've barely interacted with me and Assassin, so why would you come to such a strange conclusion?"
Tohsaka Rin crossed her arms. As if trying to hide her panic, her fingertips tapped lightly against her arm while she continued, "I summoned Assassin for the Holy Grail War... even if there seem to be some problems with the war now, my thoughts have never changed."
"This is also for the glory of the Tohsaka family!"
She raised her voice at the end, as if trying to cover up her guilty conscience.
A sly light flashed through Illya's red eyes as her bare feet crushed bits of ice in the snow, "You always use the glory of the Tohsaka family as your shield, Rin."
"But hearing you say that puts me at ease. At first, I thought you joined the Holy Grail War simply because you wanted to see Nii-chan."
Tohsaka Rin snorted, "Masters summon Servants for the Holy Grail War. If someone joined the Holy Grail War just to see their Servant... wouldn't that be putting things backwards?"
Illya lightly tapped her lips with a fingertip, looked up, and thought for a moment before continuing, "That does make sense."
Hearing her opinion acknowledged, a faint smile appeared on Tohsaka Rin's face, "Right—"
Illya tilted her head again, "But I joined this Holy Grail War simply because I wanted to see him. In that case, I think we can become friends."
The smile on Tohsaka Rin's face slowly disappeared, "Why are you suddenly saying that?"
"Because that means you're not my love rival," Illya smiled brightly.
"Since you're not a love rival, I don't need to consider your feelings anymore."
After saying that, Illya drifted back toward the house.
"Let's head inside first, this strange magic barrier is appearing all over Fuyuki right now. I wonder if they've already figured out a solution."
———
[Living Room]
After waiting for nearly ten minutes, Alvin and Merlin finally saw the two girls walk into the room one after the other.
"Rin, what secret girl talk were you having?"
Alvin looked at Tohsaka Rin in confusion. There were still traces of red on her face. Even her pale skin seemed slightly flushed, and her eyes looked moist.
Noticing the boy's gaze, Tohsaka Rin glanced guiltily at Illya beside her. Her red lips parted slightly as she answered in a tsundere tone, "It was just some talk between girls... don't worry about it."
"More importantly, did you come up with anything? If we don't destroy that barrier, things are going to get troublesome later."
Even though he knew Tohsaka Rin was deliberately changing the subject, Alvin wisely chose not to ask further.
He looked toward Merlin, "You explain it to her."
The carefree look on Merlin's face was already gone as he spoke seriously, "Someone has probably been secretly setting up small barriers throughout this city over the past few years. All of those barriers are linked together and completely cover the city, destroying them all in a short time isn't realistic."
"There's only one option, find the person behind this magecraft."
"Also, Master and I need to head to Ryuudou Temple now."
Merlin continued, "If I'm not mistaken, after gathering enough 'desire,' the one behind this will definitely go to the Greater Grail and complete Beast's final evolution."
Tohsaka Rin looked at Merlin with a complicated expression, "You know who's using this magecraft?"
"Of course."
Merlin smiled faintly, "Don't you already know as well?"
Tohsaka Rin stayed silent.
"Alvin, Master and I will wait for you at Mount Enzou first, if possible, it would be best to convince the Masters in this Holy Grail War to temporarily work together."
"I think if you're the one asking, Miss Manaka should be willing to help."
Merlin lightly tapped his staff, and pink flower petals quickly blurred the figures of him and Illya.
The living room suddenly became quiet.
Alvin looked at the still-dazed Tohsaka Rin and held out his hand, "Let's go, Rin."
"Oh... okay."
Tohsaka Rin took the boy's hand.
Neither of them seemed to notice that the pink crystal in the yard, already crushed into powder, was quietly gathering together into a vivid flower.
———
A flock of crows circled above the Matou residence, letting out harsh cries.
Morgan le Fay's court dress did not move in the cold wind. The golden rune embroidery along the hem gave off a faint blue glow.
She tapped the air lightly with her fingertip. The shadow of the Tower of Imprisonment wrapped around Matou Sakura's ankles like a living thing, then tightly restrained her body.
At almost the same moment, Matou Sakura felt a slight sense of suffocation pressing toward her, and even her breathing gradually became hurried.
Morgan le Fay, a mage from the end of the Age of Gods, controlled many "Great Magecrafts of the Age of Gods," and the Water Mirror was one of the spells she was most proud of.
It imposed "dreams" onto the trapped target, then repeatedly launched negative psychological attacks against them.
In a sense, it could also be considered a form of illusion technique.
"So even though you're a Beast, you're still only in your infancy."
Morgan slowly walked in front of Matou Sakura and examined the girl with interest, "I'm actually curious... you should be waiting for the thing inside the Greater Grail to mature, right? Why expose your identity so early?"
"If you had stayed hidden carefully, even I wouldn't have had many ways to deal with you. After all, tracking magecraft can only be used after discovering traces of the other party's magical energy."
Matou Sakura frowned. Due to the power of the Tower of Imprisonment, her body floated in the air. Her hands looked as though invisible chains were binding them, and her body stayed tense.
She stared at the woman in front of her and said softly, "You aren't really Morgan le Fay either, are you?"
"If I'm not mistaken, your body isn't that of a Heroic Spirit, but a human body. Am I right?"
The "black mud" inside Matou Sakura's body could suppress Servants in the Holy Grail War, yet its power had no effect at all against Morgan.
There was only one possibility, Morgan was not truly a Servant.
Morgan le Fay gave a vague smile, "Your reaction is pretty fast."
She really was not a Servant.
The body Morgan was currently using belonged to Gray, who had arrived in Fuyuki not long ago to participate in the Holy Grail War.
By attaching herself to Gray's body, the legendary "witch" of Britain had finally descended into the world.
"After all, the black mud doesn't work on you."
Matou Sakura sighed lightly, "But that doesn't mean there's no way at all."
Morgan raised an eyebrow slightly, and the smile on her face faded a little.
"You said earlier that you and senpai had already been intimate, right?"
Matou Sakura's gentle voice quietly sounded through the freezing snowy night, "But I think that's normal, because you're very beautiful. Even among all the women I've met, you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
She raised her head and looked at the woman before her.
The face so close to her was pale and delicate. Her skin was smooth, and beneath her coldness was a beauty that was hard to describe. From any angle, she looked flawless.
"I don't think any man in this world could refuse you, Princess Morgan," Matou Sakura said sincerely.
At that moment, she suddenly switched again from "Beast" back to "Matou Sakura." Whether it was her presence or her voice, everything became especially sweet and gentle, like a harmless little rabbit.
Morgan frowned slightly without realizing it. Even though Matou Sakura was restrained inside the Tower of Imprisonment, for some reason, Morgan still felt a faint unease.
Crack!
In the air, it vaguely sounded as though something had broken apart.
Black mud seeped out from beneath Matou Sakura's skirt, corroding black holes into the snow.
The black mud wrapped around the girl's body almost instantly.
Then in the next second, the black mud shattered.
A silver-haired woman stood bathed in the black mud. She lifted her neck, suppressed breaths spilling from between her red lips, cold sweat sliding along her collarbone into her clothes.
Soon, bright red patterns spread across Matou Sakura's pale skin. She lost some of her usual weakness, but gained a more seductive and sensual appearance.
"You really are timid, Miss Matou."
Morgan's high heels crushed the snow on the ground, "Even liking or envying someone requires you to borrow Beast's body to express it."
Matou Sakura floated quietly in the air, her bare feet white as snow, her indifferent gaze fixed on Morgan le Fay.
Even though she was still imprisoned within the Tower of Imprisonment, she revealed a charming smile.
"Princess Morgan, weren't you curious why I exposed my identity so early? I can tell you the answer now."
She suddenly raised her hand beside her.
A heavy thud abruptly sounded in the distance. Matou Shinji, who had been secretly watching from the shadows, seemed to be pulled by some kind of force. With a frightened scream, he flew backward toward Matou Sakura.
Then he crashed into the snow like a rag doll.
When he saw Matou Sakura's current appearance, Matou Shinji's eyes nearly bulged from fear, "Sakura, why are you—"