"Is that… him?"
Outside the Matou estate, Rin Tohsaka stood with a frown, staring at the figure in the distance.
It wasn't just Rin who frowned. Shirou Emiya, seeing the blue-clad figure, instinctively clutched his chest. "It… it's him?"
Yes, the Servant standing not far away was none other than Lancer.
The last time they encountered him at the school, Fang Mo had blasted him with a massive cannon, leaving Lancer gravely injured. During his retreat, Lancer had also fatally stabbed Shirou, a mere human at the time. Since then, they hadn't heard from him—until now. And to their surprise, he was here, talking to another figure who looked like a student.
The other person had light blue hair and a somewhat handsome face, suggesting foreign ancestry.
"Is that… Shinji?" Shirou was stunned when he recognized the person. It was none other than Matou Shinji, the eldest son of the Matou family and Shirou's classmate, known for his bad attitude.
Shirou felt conflicted. He had been dragged into the Holy Grail War as an ordinary person with little discernment. Now, seeing Shinji conversing with Lancer, Shirou naturally assumed Shinji must be Lancer's Master. And having been fatally stabbed by Lancer just the day before, Shirou's mind was in turmoil.
Matou Shinji had a terrible reputation at school—arrogant, condescending, and often a bully. Even Shirou had been frequently pushed around by him, forced to take on tasks Shinji didn't want, like cleaning the archery club the previous day, which Shinji had avoided to go flirt with girls.
Normally, Shirou wouldn't care about such things, but now, seeing that Shinji might have ordered Lancer to kill him, Shirou couldn't let it go. He needed answers, about both the Holy Grail War and their personal grievances. He glanced at Saber, gaining a bit of confidence with her by his side.
"So, the Matou family really is part of this war," Rin muttered, her thoughts aligning with Shirou's.
Her suspicions were well-founded. Shinji was familiar with the school, and given his arrogant and unpleasant nature, it made sense that he could be responsible for setting up the barrier that drained people's life force. When Rin had dispelled the barrier, she'd also been attacked by Lancer. Now, seeing Shinji with Lancer, her conclusion was clear: Matou Shinji must be Lancer's Master.
But was Lancer really Shinji's Servant?
Fang Mo, having read the original story, knew better. While Shinji was indeed a Master, he had no connection to Lancer. Shinji's Servant was actually Rider, specifically Medusa. In fact, Shinji had only managed to obtain Rider by stealing her from Sakura, using a tool called the False Attendant's Book because he had no magic talent of his own. He was a complete failure as a mage and couldn't summon a Servant by himself.
As for Lancer, his real Master was someone no one would expect—Kotomine Kirei, the overseer of the Holy Grail War.
Yes, the priest. Though he was supposed to remain neutral as the war's overseer, Kotomine was far from a good person. He was a twisted sadist who took pleasure in others' suffering.
Fang Mo could easily guess why Lancer was here. Kotomine, having had his cover blown earlier by Fang Mo, was likely feeling cornered. He probably sent Lancer to deal with Fang Mo before things got worse.
But Kotomine knew Lancer alone wasn't enough, so he likely sought an alliance with the Matou family, as Shinji was the most gullible and easily manipulated of the Masters.
Indeed, the conversation between Lancer and Shinji seemed to be going smoothly. Shinji, being the fool he was, immediately burst into triumphant laughter after a few words from Lancer, clearly convinced he now held all the cards.
Soon after, the two entered the house together.
"What should we do now?" Rin turned to Fang Mo as soon as they were out of sight. "It looks like Shinji really is Lancer's Master. Should we just charge in?"
"Of course," Fang Mo didn't bother correcting her assumption about Lancer. "The Matou family is an old mage family, so they probably have defenses. Sneaking in would be pointless. Better to hit them with a blitz. We're already at their house—where could they possibly run?"
"Alright," Rin nodded, agreeing with Fang Mo's logic.
After all, Lancer was already a defeated enemy. With Saber on their side, Rin felt confident. A two-on-one fight seemed like a guaranteed victory.
With that decision, Rin quickly moved into action. The group approached the front gate of the Matou estate, and after a brief pause, Rin pressed the doorbell.
Meanwhile, inside the Matou estate…
Hearing the doorbell, Matou Sakura instinctively stood up. She was puzzled, as they rarely received visitors, especially at night.
As she was about to head downstairs, she heard voices—Shinji and someone else's. Immediately, Sakura froze. She always tried to avoid Shinji, knowing that any encounter with him would likely end in her being beaten or insulted.
Soon, she heard footsteps. Since Shinji was downstairs, he was heading to answer the door.
In fact, he had planned to open the door himself, but the other male voice stopped him. Just as Sakura was about to return to her room, she overheard a familiar name.
"Tohsaka Rin? Why are you visiting my house at this hour?"
Upon hearing Rin's name, Sakura hesitated, recalling the scene she had witnessed that morning.
That moment when she had seen Shirou and Rin together.
Sakura wasn't a fool. She could vaguely guess the identity of Rin's foreign friends. After all, Rin was her older sister, someone Sakura had always admired. Rin was excellent in both magic and everything else, so of course, she would be involved in the Holy Grail War.
But Sakura wasn't thinking about the war—her mind was on Shirou. Shirou was the only light in her life, but seeing him with Rin had shaken her. No matter the reason, she couldn't bear the thought of Rin taking away her only source of happiness.
As these thoughts swirled, she suddenly heard Shinji's voice again, but this time filled with panic.
"What? A barrier!?"
Shinji's voice betrayed his nervousness. "I don't know what you're talking about! What barrier? I didn't set up any barrier at the school! What… You didn't mention the school? I just guessed, is that not allowed? Damn it, you want to come in and confront me? Fine, I'll let you in!"
After slamming down the phone, Shinji's face turned pale.
Despite his bravado, Shinji was a coward at heart, and now, with Rin questioning him about the school barrier, he was terrified. If word got out that he had used magic on ordinary people, the consequences would be severe. His mind raced, trying to find a way out.
"Damn it…"
Clutching his hair in frustration, Shinji paced nervously. Then his eyes landed on Lancer, who was sitting on the couch, and a twisted smile crossed his face.
"Wait a minute," Shinji muttered to himself, his confidence returning. "I have two Servants now—I'm invincible! Hmph… Tohsaka Rin dares to question me? I'll capture her instead. I've been eyeing her legs for a long time, and now she's walking right into my hands!"
With this perverse plan in mind, Shinji called out, "Rider! Rider!"
"Yes," came the immediate reply. The spirit of the Matou family, the real Servant, materialized—a tall woman with long purple hair and an eyepatch, none other than Rider, the Servant with unmatched agility.
"Hahaha! Now no one can stop me!" Shinji laughed maniacally and pointed toward the door. "Go, capture Tohsaka Rin for me."
"Understood," Rider responded, preparing to act.
However, just then, Lancer stood up abruptly. "Wait!"
"Hmm?" Both Shinji and Rider turned to look at him.
"Tohsaka's Servant is strong," Lancer said with a furrowed brow. "No one can beat him one-on-one."
"No problem," Shinji scoffed. "If one-on-one doesn't work, we'll attack together. Both you and Rider are the fastest of all the Servants. One of you can distract her Servant while the other attacks Tohsaka directly."
"That's a tactic fitting for someone like you," Lancer muttered with a sneer.
"Haha, who cares as long as it works?" Shinji boasted. "Isn't that why you teamed up with me? We'll split the spoils—you take down her Servant, and I'll have Tohsaka Rin. A perfect win-win situation!"
"…"
Lancer lowered his gaze, a deep sense of disgust flickering in his eyes.
At that moment, a sharp click echoed from outside the door, followed by a deafening explosion. The thick front door was blasted open, and something whizzed past Shinji's ear, leaving a warm trickle of liquid in its wake.
Instinctively, Shinji touched his ear, and his pupils shrank in horror.
It was blood.
"Eek! Eeeeek!" Shinji shrieked, stumbling backward in terror. "Protect me! Someone protect me!"
Before he could finish shouting, Rider and Lancer had already rushed forward to engage the attackers. But both hesitated when they saw the number of enemies. Standing beside the man in military attire was a blonde woman wielding an invisible weapon.
"Wha… What is this?" Lancer gasped, surprised to see another Servant on the battlefield.
Even Rin was shocked. There were two enemy Servants—could it be that both Shinji and Sakura had summoned Servants?
Despite the surprise, Rin couldn't let the moment pass and sternly addressed Shinji. "Matou Shinji, the one who set up that barrier at the school… it was you, wasn't it?"
"I…"
Shinji, panicking under Rin's accusation, almost blurted out a confession. But seeing the two Servants present, he decided to try and fight back. "What are you waiting for? Attack—"
Before he could finish his command, Lancer struck him with the shaft of his spear, sending him flying across the room.
Shinji, dazed and in pain, was about to shout in anger when a deafening explosion erupted behind him. The spot where he had been standing moments ago was obliterated, a white light blasting through the mansion's walls and tearing through the kitchen with a thunderous boom.
"…"
Seeing this, Shinji immediately shut his mouth, realizing that Lancer had actually saved his life. Scrambling to his feet, he fled in terror.
With Shinji gone, the battle quickly became a two-on-two situation.
Saber seemed to have her eyes set on Rider, while Fang Mo squared off against Lancer.
"Well, well, isn't this the famous Child of Light?" Fang Mo grinned as he greeted Lancer. "You're pretty tough, surviving a cannon blast like that."
"You…"
Lancer gritted his teeth. "I was careless last time. This time, I'll kill you for sure!"
With that, Lancer's aura shifted. His red spear began to glow with ominous energy as he leaped backward, taking a stance to unleash his Noble Phantasm.
However, just as the tension rose, an eerie sound echoed from upstairs.
It wasn't footsteps, but more like the scuttling of countless insects. A hunched, shadowy figure appeared at the top of the stairs.
"As guests of the Matou family, don't you think you're being quite rude?"