"How...?" I breathed, my grip tightening on my katana. "I cut your head off."
Zouken let out a dry, rattling chuckle that sounded like dead leaves scraping against stone. "A physical blade, no matter how sharp, is useless against me, Heroic Spirit. The body you struck down was merely a puppet composed of my familiars."
He raised his gnarled cane. From the shadows of the basement stairs, a torrential wave of massive, winged crest worms erupted, their mandibles clicking viciously as they swarmed down toward me.
I tightened my left arm around Sakura, pressing her small, fragile body firmly against my chest to shield her. With only my right hand free, I lashed out. My blade became a silver blur, slicing through the damp air. Dozens of the grotesque familiars were cleaved in half before they could even get within a foot of us, raining down as severed, twitching husks onto the stone floor.
But I was at a massive disadvantage.
I couldn't use my normal footwork. I couldn't employ my usual hyper-aggressive, space-collapsing strikes. Every movement I made had to be perfectly calculated to ensure Sakura wasn't jostled, dropped, or exposed to the swarm. I was fighting entirely on the defensive, acting as a human shield while Zouken stood safely at the top of the stairs, endlessly summoning more of his vile bugs.
"Such a noble, foolish sword," Zouken mocked, his hollow eyes gleaming with dark amusement. "To throw yourself into the Matou workshop just to steal a broken vessel. You cannot protect her and fight me at the same time."
A sharp, stinging pain grazed my cheek as one of the winged worms managed to slip past my guard. I sliced it out of the air a fraction of a second later, but the sheer volume of the swarm was beginning to overwhelm my single-handed defense.
I leaped backward, putting some distance between myself and the staircase, my mind racing through my tactical options.
'I should retreat,' I debated internally, my eyes darting toward the heavy wooden doors at the top of the stairs. 'With my Agility and Shukuchi, escaping this basement would be child's play. I can vanish instantly, completely untraceable, and bring the girl straight to Master. He's a miracle worker. He can heal her.'
I bent my knees, preparing to launch myself upward and completely abandon the fight. It was the smartest, most logical move for a bodyguard to make. Secure the hostage and extract.
But then, I stopped.
'Wait.'
Master's incredibly serious expression flashed in my mind. His voice echoed perfectly in my memory. "And if we don't kill him tonight, his future evil deeds will only escalate. He is the darkest, most corrupt rot in this city. I want him entirely eradicated."
Master didn't send me here just for a rescue mission. He sent me here for an execution.
Zouken was a magus participating in the Holy Grail War. If I just took the girl and ran, I was leaving an active, highly dangerous enemy combatant alive. A magus who controlled thousands of insidious, creeping familiars that could scour Fuyuki City. If I left him breathing, he would inevitably become a threat to my Master.
The image of this vile creature's bugs anywhere near our apartment—anywhere near the man who had cured me and promised me a victory feast—made my heart completely stop.
The urge to flee vanished entirely. The thoughts of a romantic reward, of dates and mana transfers, were instantly burned away by a freezing, absolute fury. I was the captain of the First Unit. I did not leave my lord's enemies alive.
I slowly stood up straight. I gently adjusted my hold on Sakura, securing her against my side, and lowered my katana.
"You're right," I said, my voice dropping to a terrifyingly calm, deadened whisper. The temperature in the basement seemed to plummet as my killing intent saturated the air. "I am holding a broken vessel. I am fighting with one hand."
I looked up at Zouken, my pale blue eyes locking onto his with the cold, unwavering gaze of the Shinsengumi's most lethal executioner.
"And yet," I promised him, my blade humming with concentrated magical energy, "you are still not leaving this basement alive."
I kicked off the damp stone floor. Even carrying Sakura's weight against my side, my Agility was entirely beyond the realm of human comprehension.
My katana became a flawless arc of pale blue light. I didn't just defend anymore; I pushed forward. With every step I took up the basement stairs, a dozen of Zouken's grotesque familiars were shredded into a bloody mist. I moved like a phantom, my blade carving a perfect, impenetrable sphere of death around myself and the little girl.
'The body in front of me is a puppet,' I analyzed coldly, my eyes tracking the endless stream of insects. 'That means the real body—the core worm—is hiding somewhere in this swarm. I just need to cut them all down until there's nothing left for him to hide in.'
Zouken's mocking smile finally faltered. He took a step back up the stairs, his cane clicking frantically as he realized I wasn't being overwhelmed by his numbers. I was exterminating his familiars faster than he could manifest them from the shadows.
"Insolent wretch!" Zouken hissed, his rotting face twisting into an ugly sneer. "You think you can defy the Matou lineage in our own—"
He suddenly stopped.
The heavy wooden doors at the very top of the staircase, left partially open from my violent entry, were pushed wide open. A new, highly erratic magical signature flooded the threshold.
Zouken turned his head slightly, his hollow eyes narrowing in genuine surprise. "Kariya...?"
I paused my advance, my katana poised defensively as I looked past the rotting old man. Standing directly behind Zouken in the hallway was a new figure. He was a haggard, sickly-looking man wearing a dark hoodie. Half of his hair had turned a dead, shocking white, and the left side of his face was grotesquely disfigured, pulsing with the exact same vile, parasitic magical energy that infested this basement.
But it wasn't the man's horrific appearance that caught my attention. It was the red, intricate tattoos burning brightly on the back of his right hand.
Command Seals. Another Master.
The man's bloodshot, desperate eyes didn't even look at me. They locked instantly onto Zouken, filled with a raw, agonizing hatred, before darting down to the bruised, unconscious little girl secured tightly in my arm.
His face contorted into an expression of absolute, unhinged fury. He raised his right hand, the Command Seals glowing with a violent, blood-red light.
"Berserker!" Kariya screamed into the darkness, his voice cracking with raw, desperate fury.
"Okay, Master," a soft, incredibly lethargic voice mumbled from the shadows directly behind him.
I blinked, momentarily thrown off by the complete lack of a terrifying, bloodcurdling roar.
Stepping out from the hallway behind the haggard man was a young woman wearing a dark athletic jacket, a scarf wrapped loosely around her neck, and a pair of round glasses. She looked completely exhausted, as if she had just been woken up from a very comfortable nap and was deeply annoyed by it.
She raised a metallic hilt. With a sharp, aggressive snap-hiss, a brilliant, crackling red energy blade ignited, complete with two smaller crossguard beams at the base.
She didn't even look at me. She didn't look at the little girl in my arms. Her sleepy eyes locked onto Zouken Matou, and an overwhelming, oppressive dark aura suddenly flared to life around her.
Without another word, the strange Berserker kicked off the ground. She charged straight down the stairs, swinging her humming red blade. The weapon didn't just cut the crest worms; the sheer, concentrated heat of the red energy instantly incinerated them into clouds of dark ash.
Kariya scrambled down the stairs right behind her, his bloodshot eyes fixed entirely on the child in my arm. He stopped a few feet away from me, his breathing ragged, his disfigured face twisting into an expression of profound, agonizing grief as he saw the state she was in.
"Sakura..." he choked out, reaching his trembling hands toward me. "Please. Give her to me."
I narrowed my eyes, evaluating him for a fraction of a second. He was an enemy Master, but his magical circuits were a complete, self-destructive mess, and the absolute heartbreak in his eyes was genuine. 'He isn't a threat to me,' I concluded. 'And he clearly cares for her.'
I gently passed Sakura into Kariya's waiting arms. He pulled her close, tears immediately spilling over his scarred cheeks as he shielded her from the sight of the writhing pit.
Now, both of my hands were free.
I looked back at the stairs. The strange, glasses-wearing Berserker was carving a path of fiery red destruction through the swarm, but Zouken was continuously pulling back, trying to overwhelm her with sheer numbers from the shadows. She wasn't showing any hostility toward me, her focus entirely consumed by her Master's command to kill the old man.
'The enemy of my enemy is a temporary ally,' I decided, my lips curving into a sharp, lethal smile. 'And Master wants this monster entirely eradicated.'
I dropped my stance, gripping the hilt of my katana with both hands.
Shukuchi.
I collapsed the space between us in an instant, reappearing directly on Zouken's left flank while Berserker overwhelmed his right.
Zouken's hollow eyes widened in sheer panic as he realized he was completely trapped between two relentless, highly lethal Servants. "Wait—!"
We didn't let him finish.
Berserker swung her red energy sword in a massive, horizontal arc, completely severing Zouken's lower half and instantly vaporizing the defensive wall of worms he tried to summon.
As his upper torso fell, my katana flashed. A flawless, blinding streak of silver light. I didn't just aim for his chest; I channeled my mana into the blade, targeting the densest concentration of magical energy hiding within the rotting puppet. My sword pierced exactly through the core crest worm hiding near his heart, flooding it with destructive pale blue energy.
Zouken let out a final, agonizing shriek before the core shattered. His entire body rapidly dissolved into a pile of foul-smelling, decaying ash on the stone floor. The remaining worms in the pit immediately went limp, completely lifeless now that their master's tether was destroyed.
The basement fell dead silent, save for the deep, rhythmic humming of the red energy sword.
I flicked my blade to the side to clear it, then smoothly slid the katana back into its scabbard. It locked into place with a sharp, satisfying click.
I turned around to face Kariya. He had collapsed to his knees on the damp floor, clutching Sakura tightly against his chest.
He was trembling violently, his one good eye wide and devastated as the sheer adrenaline began to fade, leaving him alone with the horrifying reality of what had been done to the little girl he wanted to save.
I walked over to him, my pale blue haori swishing quietly against the stone.
"My Master is a doctor," I stated flatly, looking down at the broken man. "A very good one. He can fix the damage done to her, and he can fix whatever those worms are doing to your body."
I held my hand out toward him.
"Give the girl to me."
Kariya stared at my outstretched hand. His one good eye darted between me, my sheathed katana, and the little girl shivering against his chest. He was clearly exhausted and in agonizing pain from the crest worms eating his own flesh, but a fierce, protective caution flared in his gaze.
"A doctor..." Kariya rasped, his voice trembling with a desperate kind of hope. "Can he really reverse this? Can he save her?" He pulled Sakura just a fraction closer. "I... I agree to let him look at her. But I'm going with you. I need to meet this Master of yours myself."
I narrowed my eyes, my hand still hovering in the air.
'Bringing an enemy Master directly to my lord's sanctuary is a massive tactical risk,' I debated internally. My gaze shifted briefly to the sleepy-looking girl in the tracksuit standing behind him, who was currently covering a yawn with the back of her hand.
'But... her Master is practically dying, and she doesn't seem to be operating under Madness Enhancement at all. If Master can actually heal them, we could potentially gain an ally with a fully sane, highly lethal Berserker. In a Holy Grail War, that kind of firepower is an invaluable strategic advantage.'
"Fine," I agreed, my tone strict and uncompromising. "But if your Servant makes a single hostile move toward my Master, I will cut you both down before you can even blink. Understood?"
Kariya nodded weakly, entirely lacking any killing intent. He gently transferred Sakura's unconscious body into my arms. I adjusted her carefully against my haori, ensuring she was completely secure and comfortable.
"Let's go," I ordered.
We left the rotting stench of the basement behind, Kariya limping heavily beside me while his strange Berserker followed lazily a few steps back, her red energy blade now extinguished. We navigated the dark, oppressive halls of the Matou estate in complete silence, heading straight for the exit.
When we reached the front courtyard, I paused.
The massive, heavy iron gates of the Matou compound were completely gone. They hadn't just been forced open or knocked off their hinges; they had been meticulously sliced into glowing, molten red cubes that were still smoking on the pavement. Berserker had evidently decided not to use the doorbell on her way in.
I stepped through the ruined threshold and out into the cool night air of the Fuyuki streets, preparing to figure out the logistics of carrying both Sakura and a crippled enemy Master back to our apartment.
But before I could say a word, my Servant instincts flared. I immediately recognized the familiar magical signature approaching rapidly down the empty street.
I blinked in surprise, shifting Sakura slightly in my arms. Running straight toward the Matou estate, completely out of breath but moving as fast as his legs could carry him, was my Master.
'Did he come as backup? Is he worried about me?' I thought, my heart doing a sudden, hopeful flutter at the idea of him rushing into danger just to make sure I was safe.
But as he got closer, illuminated by the flickering streetlights, I realized he didn't look worried, panicked, or combat-ready at all.
He slowed to a jog, panting heavily as he stopped a few yards away from us. His golden eyes darted past me, past Kariya, and locked instantly onto the sleepy girl in the tracksuit and scarf.
A massive, unrestrained grin spread across my Master's face. He didn't look like a magus entering a war zone. He looked incredibly, overwhelmingly excited.
'JACKPOT!!!' I screamed internally, my mind doing a victorious backflip.
I had originally bolted out of the apartment and sprinted all the way across town because I realized I had made a massive tactical error: I completely forgot to tell Okita that Zouken's real body was a core worm hiding near his heart. I had panicked, terrified that she was going to get ambushed by the immortal parasite because of my slip-up. But my physical stats were absolutely pathetic compared to a Saber-class Servant, and she had dusted me in seconds.
By the time I finally reached the smoking, ruined gates of the Matou estate, my lungs were completely burning. I hunched over, resting my hands on my knees and coughing violently into my fist.
"Master!" Okita immediately rushed to my side, her lethal samurai aura evaporating as she gently and affectionately rubbed my back, still securely holding the unconscious Sakura in her other arm. "Are you alright? You shouldn't have pushed yourself! I successfully eliminated Zouken Matou and saved the girl... though, I did have some assistance from this Berserker."
I wheezed, finally catching my breath, and stood up straight. I looked past Okita to see the haggard, white-haired man looking at me with a mixture of desperate hope and intense caution.
I put on my best, most reassuring professional face.
"I'm the doctor," I introduced myself, looking Kariya dead in the eye. "My Servant told you the truth. I will do everything in my power to save her, reverse the damage, and completely purge those crest worms." I gestured to his pulsing, disfigured face. "And I'm offering to do the exact same thing for you. I can fix your circuits."
Kariya's lone good eye widened in shock. The tension completely drained from his shoulders, and he gave a weak, incredibly relieved nod. "Thank you... whatever the cost, I agree."
With the easy alliance secured, I finally turned my attention to the Servant standing behind him.
Tracksuit. Scarf. Glasses. Lethargic posture.
'He summoned Mysterious Heroine X Alter instead of Lancelot?!' I thought, my brain completely short-circuiting. 'I am so screwed.'
Having an Alter-class Saberface in the party was a massive win for combat, but her appetite was a legendary, bottomless galactic black hole for sugar. If I didn't have my system to back me up, she would literally eat me into bankruptcy before the Grail War even reached its second day.
I decided to establish dominance the only way you could with an Alter.
"Hey," I announced casually, stepping right up to the sleepy Sith Lord. "Watch this. A magic trick."
MHXA blinked lazily behind her glasses, tilting her head.
I reached my empty hand right behind her ear. Channeling my newly acquired circle-less Amestrian Alchemy, I blatantly bypassed the traditional rules of Fuyuki magecraft. Using the concept of Equivalent Exchange, I instantly transmuted the ambient moisture and carbon in the air, pulling out a comically massive, overflowing woven basket completely stuffed with high-quality wagashi, chocolate bars, and colorful dango sticks right from behind her head.
Kariya and Okita both froze, completely caught off guard. To them, pulling that much physical mass and complex sugar structures out of thin air without a single incantation was an absolutely terrifying display of high-tier magecraft.
MHXA's sleepy eyes instantly went wide, practically glowing with stars. She didn't question the magic at all. She immediately grabbed the basket from my hands, pulled out a dango stick, and started happily munching away, her cheeks puffing out in absolute bliss.
I crossed my arms, offering a satisfied, stoic nod as she ate.
However, as we stood side-by-side under the flickering light of the streetlamp, a strange silence fell over the group.
I noticed Okita and Kariya both staring intently at the two of us, their eyes darting back and forth between my face and the munching Berserker's face. Between my unnaturally pale skin, my striking golden eyes, and the eerily similar, deadpan facial structure I currently shared with the Artoria Alter variant standing next to me... it was undeniable.
Okita tilted her head, her brow furrowing in genuine confusion. "Master... forgive me for asking, but is she your sister?"
"I was just wondering the exact same thing," Kariya muttered, looking completely bewildered as he stared at the two of us.
"You two look exactly alike."
"No," I deadpanned, staring flatly at the two of them. "We are absolutely, one hundred percent not related. It's just a massive coincidence."
Okita and Kariya exchanged a highly skeptical look, clearly not buying it for a second, but I didn't have the energy to argue multiversal genetics with them.
"Let's just get off the street before another Master spots us," I sighed, gesturing for them to follow. "My apartment isn't far."
We made it back to my place quickly and without drawing any unwanted attention. I led the group inside, locking the door behind us. I directed a heavily limping Kariya to take a seat on the armchair, while Okita immediately took up a highly professional guard position near the window, her hand resting on the hilt of her katana as she scanned the perimeter.
I sat down on the center of the living room couch. I carefully took Sakura from Okita's arms, gently resting the little girl's unconscious body across my lap. She felt incredibly cold and fragile, her breathing dangerously shallow and raspy from the sheer trauma her body had endured.
I raised my hands, preparing to channel my mana, when a light tug on my sleeve stopped me.
I looked up. Berserker was standing right next to the couch, holding out the completely empty woven basket. She had somehow inhaled an entire bakery's worth of wagashi in the ten-minute walk to my apartment. Her glasses were slightly askew, and she looked at me with wide, expectant eyes.
"More treats, please," MHXA mumbled lethargically.
"In a bit," I told her, keeping my tone gentle but entirely firm. "I need to focus on healing her right now. Just sit tight, and I'll get you a mountain of them when I'm done."
MHXA blinked, looked down at the empty basket, and then gave a slow, understanding nod. She quietly took a seat on the floor right next to the couch, hugging her knees and waiting patiently without a single complaint or sign of aggression.
Kariya stared at her, his lone good eye practically bulging out of his skull. He had mentally prepared himself to struggle against the chaotic, uncontrollable, mind-breaking madness of a Berserker-class Servant for the entire war. Yet, here his ultimate weapon was, sitting cross-legged like a well-behaved kindergartener waiting for snack time just because I asked her to.
'System. Analyze patient,' I commanded mentally.
A translucent blue screen materialized over Sakura's body. Lines of data rapidly scrolled across my vision as the Medical System scanned the horrific, microscopic extent of Zouken's tampering.
[Analysis Complete: Severe biological and magical parasitism detected. Patient's magical circuits have been forcefully expanded and corrupted by foreign familiars.]
[Notice: Through direct observation and systemic breakdown of the Matou Magecraft, you have comprehended the underlying magical theory.]
[Skill Acquired: Curse Identification Lv. 1 (Passive)]
[Skill Acquired: Curse Removal Lv. 1 (Active)]
[Skill Acquired: Matou Magic (Corrupt) Lv. 1 (Active)]
I dismissed the glowing notifications with a thought. A sudden surge of new, instinctual knowledge flooded my mind. I didn't just understand what the crest worms were doing to her anymore; I now fundamentally understood the exact magical theory Zouken used to bind them, and exactly how to unravel it.
I placed my glowing hands lightly over Sakura's chest.
Since my new skills were only at Level 1, relying solely on them to purge the infestation might be too slow or taxing on her fragile body. Instead, I seamlessly blended my techniques, using my circle-less Amestrian Alchemy to bridge the gap.
I activated Curse Removal Lv. 1. A warm, purifying golden light radiated from my palms, sinking deep into her corrupted magical circuits. It acted like a surgical scalpel, cleanly severing the ethereal, parasitic tethers binding the worms to her nervous system.
As the curses broke and the lingering worms began to die off inside her, I simultaneously channeled my Alchemy.
A brilliant pulse of pale blue lightning danced across her skin, weaving flawlessly with the golden light. I used the raw, decaying biological mass of the dying familiars as the equivalent exchange material, transmuting it to perfectly reconstruct and repair her damaged tissues, muscles, and organs from the inside out.
The horrific, bruised purple veins protruding beneath her pale skin began to recede and fade entirely. Her breathing steadily deepened, losing its painful rasp, and a healthy flush started to return to her cheeks. The oppressive, rotting aura of the Matou magic was being systematically, permanently erased from her body.