"...There's no time to cry!"
"Run!"
Holding Kotone's hand, Rin Tohsaka led the group of rescued children straight toward the city's main streets.
Before long...
The large group of children wandering the streets at night was spotted by a police patrol.
The officers immediately gathered them up and placed them under protection.
"Huh?"
"Where's Rin?"
Among the sobbing children, Kotone looked around in confusion.
Rin was nowhere to be seen.
At the mouth of an alley across the street—
Watching Kotone and the other rescued children safely board the police cars, a satisfied smile spread across Rin's face.
She quietly watched until the patrol cars disappeared into the distance.
Only then did she pull the Mana Compass from beneath her collar.
The needle rested steadily at zero, swaying only slightly.
"I did it, Father."
Suddenly—
A violent tingling sensation swept through her entire body, as though she'd been struck by electricity.
"W-What's happening?!"
Uneasily, Rin looked toward the darkness deep within the alley.
At the same time, the Mana Compass needle began spinning violently.
One revolution...
Three...
Five...
Six...
It kept accelerating until it completed ten full revolutions—
The instrument's absolute limit.
The needle could spin no farther.
Her father's warning echoed through her mind.
"If it ever reacts like this..."
"...then you've encountered something that even I would struggle to face."
"Rin."
"If that happens..."
"Run."
"Run as far away as you possibly can."
"F-Father..."
Rin's pupils contracted violently.
It felt as though she were staring directly at death itself.
She immediately turned to flee.
Then—
Splat.
A grotesque mass of purple-black flesh dropped from above, blocking the alley's exit.
It was a writhing cluster of tentacles.
Thick, slimy appendages splattered vile fluid across the ground as they landed.
Their shrill screeches grated against her ears like fingernails scraping a chalkboard.
One after another...
The creatures rained from the sky.
Within seconds, every possible escape route had been completely sealed.
"Yo."
Rin slowly turned around.
Ryunosuke Uryū stood there cheerfully waving at her.
To an uninformed passerby...
He might have looked like an older brother coming to take his little sister home.
"No!!"
Rin immediately threw every remaining gemstone she had, detonating them all at once.
But—
Several tentacles burst from the surrounding walls.
They intercepted every gemstone before it reached Ryunosuke.
The explosions were completely contained.
Not a single blast reached him.
"Trying that trick again?"
Ryunosuke clutched his stomach as he laughed.
"You almost scared me to death."
Standing beside him, a hunched man wearing dark robes gradually materialized from Spirit Form.
His enormous eyes stared fixedly at Rin.
"...A Servant..."
Rin's heart sank.
Without realizing it...
She had stepped directly into the Holy Grail War her father was fighting.
"Father..."
"Mother..."
Only six years old...
Rin collapsed onto the ground, tears streaming down her face.
Ryunosuke slowly approached, emboldened by Caster's presence.
"What?"
"Not running anymore?"
Smack!
He grabbed Rin by one of her twin ponytails, yanked her to her feet—
Then slapped her hard across the face.
"What an extraordinary specimen..."
Caster—Gilles de Rais—actually wept with excitement.
Holding his hands toward Rin as though presenting a priceless treasure, he exclaimed,
"This child alone is worth more than all the others combined..."
"...Sob..."
Her cheek already swollen, Rin let out quiet, puppy-like whimpers.
Regret filled her heart.
Not because she had come here tonight.
She regretted...
That she wasn't stronger.
Strong enough that Kotone would never have been hurt.
Strong enough to defeat these monsters herself.
But...
It was too late now.
Sakura...
The last person to cross her mind was her little sister, whose face had already begun to blur in her memory.
Unwillingly...
Rin slowly closed her eyes.
She felt herself being dragged toward the abyss by the evil Servant and his Master.
At that moment—
A brilliant rainbow streak descended from the heavens.
...So beautiful...
Half-opening her eyes, Rin couldn't help marveling at the dreamlike sight.
Then—
She saw both Caster and Ryunosuke's expressions change dramatically.
Their bodies began trembling uncontrollably.
"Huh...?"
Confused, Rin turned her head with great effort toward the source of their terror.
It became a sight she would never forget for the rest of her life.
A golden-haired knight...
Wearing shining silver armor...
Holding a sacred sword...
Stepped gracefully down from the Bifrost.
A gentle smile rested upon his face.
He looked like the prince from every fairy tale Rin had ever dreamed of...
Only infinitely more magnificent.
In that instant...
He strode directly into her heart.
"...Saber?!"
"W-Why the hell are you here?!"
Ryunosuke asked, his voice trembling.
At the same time, he tightened his grip on Rin's hair, using her as a hostage.
"Ow!"
Pain shot across Rin's scalp.
She felt as though her hair were about to be ripped out.
Yet despite the pain...
One thought crossed her mind.
So... he's the Saber-class Servant...
"Do I need your permission before I leave the house?"
Leon replied calmly.
Without even looking at the tentacled familiars blocking the alley...
He casually swung his sword twice.
Slash!
Slash!
The monstrous tentacles were instantly cut apart.
The image of a powerful and heroic knight was firmly etched into Rin's heart.
"Damn it!"
Ryunosuke cursed.
He shot a glance toward Caster.
Understanding immediately, Gilles de Rais summoned an even larger horde of tentacled familiars.
The alley was almost completely swallowed by writhing monsters.
At the same time—
Ryunosuke gripped Rin's hair with one hand while pressing the other against her throat.
"Don't come any closer!"
"Or I'll kill her!"
Leon looked at him with complete indifference.
"...You're the one holding her."
"So why should I stop?"
"...What?"
Ryunosuke froze.
He had never imagined Leon wouldn't be intimidated.
Wasn't this trick supposed to work every time against heroes?
Unfortunately for him...
Reality gave him no time to think.
The instant Leon finished speaking—
He vanished from Ryunosuke's sight.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789