Matou Sakura suddenly raised her head, her face displaying a polite yet distant smile, mirroring Tohsaka Tokiomi's.
"What Uncle Kariya says is what I say. I'm afraid I cannot accept your proposal. So, Mr. Tohsaka, please leave."
Tohsaka Tokiomi frowned slightly. He sensed something different in his daughter but couldn't quite pinpoint it.
'No matter. We'll have plenty of chances to deal with each other in the future. In the world of magi, power is the only true guarantee. Let me teach you the real cruelty of magecraft, my foolish little daughter.'
"Miss Matou, please think over my offer carefully. If you change your mind, feel free to contact me. For now, I shall take my leave."
Tohsaka Tokiomi smiled meaningfully.
"The affairs of magecraft are something the Matou family can manage on its own. Thank you for your concern, Mr. Tohsaka. I won't see you out."
Sakura's response was polite but distant, her tone filled with formal diplomacy.
Tohsaka Tokiomi made no further comment, picking up his gemstone-topped staff and heading for the door. Throughout the exchange, Matou Kariya glared at him, as if he might attack at any moment. But in the end, he restrained himself.
Tohsaka Tokiomi didn't even spare him a glance. To a traditional magus like Tokiomi, Matou Kariya was nothing more than a talented coward—someone who had fled from responsibility and magecraft, a loser. In some ways, this assessment was not far from the truth. Such people weren't worth Tokiomi's time.
As he stepped out of the Matou mansion's gate, Tohsaka Tokiomi glanced back at the elegant Western-style house. Compared to the eerie, dungeon-like atmosphere when Matou Zouken was alive, the Matou residence now had a more lively and vibrant feel. But to Tohsaka Tokiomi, this was a sign of the degradation of magecraft.
Magi should be a solitary breed, detached from the base interests of common people, dedicating themselves solely to the pursuit of magecraft and ultimately reaching the Root. His evaluation of the current Matou family could be summed up in two scornful words: "Heretical path."
'The five-hundred-year accumulation of the Makiri family's magecraft is being wasted in the hands of people who don't understand the true essence of magecraft. I'll gladly take it all and use it to elevate the Tohsaka family to new heights of glory.'
Tohsaka Tokiomi's ambitions were now impossible to hide.
In Fuyuki City, the only person he had ever truly feared was that unfathomable old man. When he heard of Matou Zouken's death, he opened a bottle of his treasured 1982 Lafite and drank alone until dawn. Now that his opponent was a six-year-old girl, Tohsaka Tokiomi didn't even consider the possibility of losing. It was as if heaven itself was blessing the Tohsaka family!
As for the fact that his opponent was his daughter? Tohsaka Tokiomi couldn't care less. The moment Sakura was given the name Matou, their relationship became one of magus versus magus. Beyond the chosen heir to a magus lineage, there is no family bond between magi. Everything is for the continuation of magecraft and the fulfillment of the age-old wish to reach the Root.
Tohsaka Tokiomi was not a qualified father, but he was certainly a qualified head of a magus family, a martyr for the cause of magecraft. At most, when he won, he would leave Sakura alive, allowing her to live out her life as an ordinary person. That was the mercy of a magus father—and the mercy of a victor.
'There's no rush with the Matou family. The Holy Grail War is the priority. Once I seize the Grail, I'll reach the Root immediately and restore the Tohsaka family's glory!'
At this thought, Tohsaka Tokiomi's heart burned with excitement. Losing the Holy Grail War? Impossible. How could the King of Heroes lose?
However, the world rarely aligns with one's expectations.
At this moment, Tohsaka Tokiomi was strolling along the path home. He had no guards with him—after all, with the King of Heroes' prideful personality, asking him to act as a bodyguard would more likely result in a rain of swords than protection. But Tohsaka Tokiomi wasn't worried. The Tohsaka estate was just a few hundred meters from the Matou residence, and it was broad daylight, with plenty of pedestrians around.
If a fight broke out now, it would expose the secret world of magecraft to the public, violating the Iron Rule of Secrecy, and all involved would face severe consequences. Moreover, he possessed the Command Spells, powerful magical crests that could summon his Servant to his side instantly. Attacking him would be foolish.
Perhaps due to his excitement at the prospect of acquiring the Matou family's magical knowledge, Tohsaka Tokiomi had let his guard down. Simply put, at this critical moment, he had once again failed to stay vigilant.
As he was elegantly greeting a lady from a nearby manor, making the plump matron blush shyly, Ryou suddenly appeared before him.
"You are—!"
Tohsaka Tokiomi's eyes widened in shock, and he instinctively reached for his Command Spells. But Ryou was faster. He thrust a strange, multicolored, lightning-shaped dagger toward Tokiomi's hand, where the Command Spells were etched.
The dagger in Ryou's hand was none other than the infamous anti-magic Noble Phantasm—Rule Breaker.
Tohsaka Tokiomi could only watch in terror as the dagger pierced his hand, unable to stop it.
Wait, it doesn't hurt...
Just as Tohsaka Tokiomi realized he felt no pain, the Command Spells on his hand suddenly lit up with a brilliant rainbow glow.
His expression changed drastically. In horror, he realized that his contract with Gilgamesh had been severed. Sure enough, the Command Spells on his hand faded, leaving only a faint trace.
The dagger in Ryou's hand was the legendary anti-magic Noble Phantasm—Ruler Breaker.
This Noble Phantasm was the counterpart to the healing Noble Phantasm Pain Breaker, which Medea possessed.
If Pain Breaker was the embodiment of Medea's love, then Rule Breaker was the embodiment of betrayal.
This dagger had been given new meaning by the goddess after the adult Medea was betrayed by Jason. Its power to sever magical contracts perfectly mirrored that story of betrayal. This was why Medea had been reluctant to bring it out—she feared it might symbolize her tragic fate. But for Ryou's sake, she had handed over the dagger that represented her grim future.
In short, Jason was an absolute fool for not marrying such a wonderful woman!
Now, in Ryou's hands, this dagger shone brilliantly.
To prepare for this moment, he and Medea had spent the entire night monitoring the surveillance crystal without rest. As the saying goes, Luck favors the prepared.
And sure enough, they had seized the opportunity!
...
"Mongrel! You've got a lot of nerve!"
From several hundred meters away, at the Tohsaka residence, a terrifying aura surged into the sky. For a moment, it seemed as if the weather had been affected. The once sunny, clear sky was now covered with dark clouds, accompanied by thunder and lightning.
Ryou, however, remained unfazed. With a casual wave, he shattered the fiery magic that Tohsaka Tokiyomi had unleashed, then crushed his head with a single hand.
Tokiomi, whose ambitions had only just begun to surface, met his end at the hands of Ryou—a man who didn't play by the rules—dying a humiliating death in the street.
A golden figure shot out from the Tohsaka residence several hundred meters away. Before it even arrived, ripples appeared in the air, and hundreds of divine weapons—swords, spears, halberds—were all aimed at Ryou, the thorn in the Hero King's side.
Gilgamesh, the Hero King, could no longer maintain his regal composure and arrogance. His handsome face was now filled with fury, and his blood-red eyes seemed to be blazing.
"Mad dog! How dare you! Not only do you stand in the light of my brilliance, tarnish my glory, and kill my vassal, but you also dare to seize the authority to command me! Who gave you this courage?!"
"Of course, it's the FATE," Ryou replied, spreading his hands.
Though Gilgamesh didn't fully understand what he was saying, he saw the mockery in his eyes.
"You mongrel! Lying on the ground waiting to die is what you should be doing! How dare you bare your fangs at me! Even tearing you to pieces wouldn't quell the fury in my heart!"
Just as Gilgamesh was about to unleash a rain of swords upon him, Ryou quickly raised his hand, and the Command Seal on the back of his hand glowed with a dazzling light.
"I command you with a Command Seal: Gilgamesh, go and slay the Ruler faction!"
The Command Seal, which he had just taken from Tohsaka Tokiyomi, flashed with a bright red light. Already reduced to two marks, it lost another.
"Damn you! You dare to command me! To command the King of Kings!"
Gilgamesh's face twisted in rage, his body trembling as he mentally fought against the power of the Command Seal.
At the same time, a bizarrely shaped long sword emerged from the Gate of Babylon, landing in Gilgamesh's hand.
Ryou immediately understood Gilgamesh's intention—he wanted to use a Noble Phantasm to sever the connection between the Command Seal and the contract.
Ryou wasted no time and immediately used another Command Seal.
"I command you again: Gilgamesh, cease your resistance and follow the order!"
With the power of two Command Seals combined, Gilgamesh's resistance was finally suppressed.
Glaring at him as if he wanted to devour him, Gilgamesh turned and left in frustration.
Ryou immediately followed.
...
As the local powerhouse of Fuyuki City, Tohsaka Tokiyomi had ways of tracking the locations of all the Masters. So Ryou wasn't worried that Gilgamesh wouldn't be able to find his target.
Sure enough, Gilgamesh headed straight for an abandoned factory. Without a word, he unleashed a massive rain of swords aimed at the factory building.
With a deafening crash, the reinforced concrete structure was shattered like tofu. Amid the dust and debris, a furious blaze shot up into the sky.
"Who the hell disturb my sleep!?"
Jeanne Alter, her hair a bit disheveled, stormed out of the smoke, hurling hundreds of fireballs at Gilgamesh.
Such an attack, which wasn't even at the level of a Noble Phantasm, naturally couldn't harm Gilgamesh.
Without any noticeable effort, golden ripples appeared around Gilgamesh, and a dozen shields of various styles materialized in front of him.
Sparks flew, yet not a single shield was penetrated. The Hero King behind them remained completely unscathed.
"Mongrel! Consider it an honor that I grant you death, and yet you dare to resist!? Die!"
Gilgamesh snarled, his expression twisted.
Already enraged by being controlled by the Command Seals, Gilgamesh's anger boiled over when Jeanne Alter fought back. He wanted to end this quickly to free himself from the Command Seal's influence and seek revenge on Ryou.
"What? Gilgamesh, have you lost your mind? Who in their right mind would obediently let you kill them?"
Jeanne Alter burst into laughter, her anger peaking.
She had been sleeping comfortably at home when, out of nowhere, a storm of Noble Phantasms rained down from the sky, not only smashing her bed but also destroying the PS game console and TV she had painstakingly acquired.
Those were rare, limited-edition items she had fought hard to... purchase.
Now, not only was the console destroyed, but her hard-earned game saves were gone too.
She was livid!
Just as she was about to use a Command Seal to order Gilgamesh to stand still so she could slap him around a bit, Ryou entered the factory.
He waved his left hand, showing the faint remnants of a Command Seal, then raised his right hand, displaying a fully intact one.
The message was clear: Let's compare who has more Command Seals.
Even though the Ruler class had a total of fourteen Command Seals, they could only use two on the same Servant.
No matter how Jeanne Alter tried to use her Command Seals to counter Ryou's or order Gilgamesh to kill himself, it wouldn't work. She could either kill him or be killed by him.
"Nguyen Ryou, you bastard!"
Jeanne Alter immediately realized that everything had been part of his scheme.
The humiliation of being manipulated by him surged again.
But before she could launch an attack, the enraged Gilgamesh unleashed a frenzied assault on her.
A storm of Noble Phantasms rained down like a hurricane.
At that moment, a large number of water demons crawled out of the factory's drainage ditches, forming a wall of flesh to protect Jeanne Alter.
At the critical moment, Gilles de Rais, hidden in the shadows, had come to her aid.
The rain of Noble Phantasms easily turned the water demons into minced meat, but more water demons continued to crawl out of the sewers, standing in front of Jeanne Alter.
"You two bastards! Let's see how you like being burned!"
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Jeanne Alter unleashed her Noble Phantasm.
"All evil shall gather here... This is the howl of a soul filled with hatred! La Grondement Du Haine!!!"
An endless sea of flames erupted from Jeanne Alter like a dragon, rushing toward them.
The edge of the flames glowed with a purple hue, and within the fire, one could faintly see the crying, wailing faces of tortured souls.
Ryou smiled faintly and casually stepped behind Gilgamesh.
This movement made Gilgamesh's face twist with fury.
Yet, under the effect of the two Command Seals, he could only grudgingly serve as his shield.
The fire of hatred was terrifying in its power, especially since it targeted the soul directly, something ordinary Noble Phantasms were powerless to defend against.
The terrifying dragon of flaming resentment engulfed Gilgamesh.