R1's tires came to a halt before a large, Japanese-style house built with classical elegance. Nestled on the northern side of Miyama, it radiated tradition, a stark contrast against the modern surroundings that flanked it.
Medusa leaned back from me and stepped off the bike. I followed, parking it nearby.
A bell chime resounded from within the moment we reached its front doors.
Hm? Some kind of detection boundary field?
It didn't take even a second for me to deduce the origin of that chime.
My hand moved to a doorbell and pressed it.
Footsteps shuffled from inside after several seconds of silence.
The traditional doors slid open with a crack. Auburn hair and brown eyes peeked from within. It was Shirou Emiya.
His gaze passed over me, then landed on Rider behind me. It took a moment for recognition to surface.
"Ah! Kamukura-san, right?" He spoke while widening the door, inviting us inside.
I followed him inside, gesturing for Rider to close the doors behind us.
Shirou's expression was unguarded as he led us to the living room.
"Kamukura-san, weren't you the one who needed my help with something? But then I seemed to have fainted, and you left me at our school's infirmary. I still can't remember exactly how I blacked out, though." He spoke with a clueless tone, rubbing the back of his head while gesturing for us to sit on futons spread before a low table.
Wordlessly, I stepped forward and settled onto a single futon with impeccable grace. Medusa walked to stand behind me, giving Shirou a scrutinising look.
"Don't mind my rambling. What would you like to drink Kamukura-san? Water or juice?" Shirou asked after a moment.
"Plain water would do." My voice remained flat.
"And what would your companion like?" His voice carried a hint of pity as he looked at Medusa's blindfold, assuming she was blind.
"Water." She replied.
"Water it is." Shirou nodded and walked over to the connected kitchen to fetch two glasses.
He was moving through the kitchen when a purple-haired woman entered the living room.
Sakura Matou.
"Senpai... Do we have guests?" She asked, glancing toward us. Her gaze passed over me without lingering, then froze on Rider standing behind me.
Her eyes snapped back to me. Caution flooded her expression as her hand unconsciously moved toward her command seals.
I took in her guarded posture, the slight twitch of her lips, the way her weight shifted backward on her heel.
A conclusion formed before her mind could even shape the thought.
She was about to use a command seal.
Beneath her dermis. Entangled with her magic circuits. The worms of Zouken Matou stirred with primal terror, recognising my mana signature as the same one that had reduced Matou Manor to rubble.
Before things could escalate.
[Ultimate Despair] awoke within me, if only for a moment.
I became despair. Despair became me.
Every worm inside Sakura Matou was forcefully suppressed. So absolute was their dread that they went still and feigned death.
As for Sakura Matou and Shirou Emiya?
Both had already collapsed. One splayed across the kitchen floor, another slumped on the floor just ahead of me.
Even Rider behind me had taken two steps back.
I rose from my position and walked toward Sakura Matou, glancing back at Rider mid-stride.
"Help me settle her on a bed and bring me a medical kit. It should be somewhere in this house." I spoke, rolling my sleeves up.
Medusa followed my instruction without delay.
10 minutes later...
I sat on a chair. Sakura Matou lay on the bed beside me, placed there by Rider.
My mind turned to those worms of Zouken, drifting to a past conversation with Medea.
...
..
.
Flashback.
After the failed assault at Matou Manor.
Medea sat beside me as I discussed with her the reason why Zouken would put so many worms inside Sakura Matou.
"Master... There are many magecrafts that employ worms. Their purpose can range from devouring her vitality to serving as a unique method of torture." She spoke, her lips curling in disgust.
"I can make some educated guesses from the file you showed me earlier." I spoke.
"Either these worms are a means for Zouken Matou to rewrite Sakura Matou's magic circuits, granting her an affinity for Matou magecraft."
"Or they are a method for Zouken Matou to possess Sakura Matou's body through a complex application of the Matou family's binding magecraft—essentially anchoring his own soul to her body."
"Another viable possibility is that these worms each bind a fragment of Zouken Matou's soul, effectively rendering him immortal until every last worm is destroyed. Though the likelihood of that is low."
Medea listened with rapt attention, nodding intermittently. She brought a finger to her chin and tapped it with a thoughtful expression.
"It can be any of the above, or something else. But I'm certain that your thoughts are moving in the correct direction, Master." Her words were approving, agreeing that my propositions had a high chance to be true.
"Medea... I want you to keep an eye on Sakura Matou and analyse those worms inside her if the chance presents itself." I had only presented her with three hypotheses, countless more already revolved within my mind.
Hours later...
Medea walked up to me while I was fine tuning R1 and its suspension.
"Master, your conjecture was right. An incomplete soul is bound to this worm." She spoke. A cage made up of rotating magic circles floated above her hand.
Within that magical structure was a worm. It thrashed and squirmed around, trying to break out of the bindings surrounding it.
Unsurprisingly, it failed.
"Look, Master." Medea twirled her fingers. Another magic circle materialised above the cage containing it.
Red light radiated from that circle, washing over the worm. It released a sharp screech as it disintegrated into ashes.
"That was a soul purification magic circle. It died instantly after coming into contact with it, so that worm really did carry a soul." Medea spoke with finality.
"Where did you get that worm from, Medea?" I asked.
Medea looked the other way. Her voice was lower than usual.
"I-I just knocked Sakura Matou out and extracted some from her."
Silence fell.
"B-but Master... Now we know how these worms work and confirmed your hypothesis."
She spoke hurriedly, trying to change the topic.
"We can now devise proper methods to take care of these things. What do you think, Master?" She asked, fidgeting with her fingers.
I brought my gaze back to R1 and continued the fine-tuning.
"Methods to take care of them? Directly making them explode is better." My voice was blank.
"Eh? Making them explode? But using explosion magic circles would not be cost-efficient." Medea laid her thoughts bare.
"Who said anything about explosion magic circles?" I asked.
"Huh?" Medea was left dumbfounded.
...
..
.
Now.
My gaze came to rest on Sakura Matou. I then reached for Medea through our bond.
Medea, teleport over.
There was much to do before Shirou Emiya woke up.
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Authors Thoughts]
And this was where he got the idea of using a Howitzer.
...
Another day. Another chapter.
Take care all of you. (*Waves bye)