Matou Zouken, whose upper body had been sliced off, still had his feet rooted in place.
Yet, disturbingly, despite his body being severed, no blood flowed from the exposed lower half.
Sakura Matou, standing beside Zuke, was paralyzed with fear. She wasn't yet the emotionally numb person who had been transformed by the crest worms.
Seeing such a large person in front of her get sliced in half was naturally a shocking experience.
"As expected, just a bug."
Zuke squinted his eyes. Though the bug cellar was dimly lit, he could clearly see the severed section of the legs crawling with insects.
Matou Zouken's body was entirely composed of a swarm of worms, barely resembling a human form. Most people wouldn't notice; even Tohsaka Tokiomi, a fellow magus, had never discovered Matou Zouken's true nature.
In the next instant, Matou Zouken's legs shattered, dispersing into a horde of worms that surged fiercely toward Zuke and Sakura.
"Hmph."
Zuke sneered as his Blackbird returned to his side, creating a spherical Void barrier around him. Any worm that approached was swallowed by the subspace, leaving no trace behind.
When dealing with swarms of tiny insects, Zuke didn't want to dirty his hands.
Even though a single punch could wipe out a swarm, the thought of worm fluids and remains on his hand was simply revolting.
"Is... Grandfather dead?"
Sakura, hiding within Blackbird's protective range, was safe from the subspace barrier's effects.
From her perspective, it seemed Matou Zouken was beyond dead—his upper body had been sliced off, and his lower half turned into bugs. It looked as if his whole body had disappeared.
"Don't call that old bug 'Grandfather' anymore. From today on, the Matou family will be history."
Zuke, of course, knew Matou Zouken wasn't truly dead. His true form had completely become a single insect, and all the bugs of the Matou house were part of him.
Until that primary insect was destroyed, Matou Zouken couldn't die. That core bug, however, clearly wasn't inside his original body.
In the Fifth Holy Grail War, Matou Zouken's core bug was hidden in Sakura's heart, but now, its location was unknown.
"You... or should I call you Heroic Spirit? You must be some ally of the Tohsaka family, summoned as a Servant, right?"
Matou Zouken's sinister voice echoed from all around, with a resonance that made it impossible to identify which bug it was coming from.
"I admit I can't kill you, but do you really think you can destroy the Matou family? As long as I exist, the Matou family won't be history!"
Matou Zouken had existed since the day he founded the Matou family. Though his soul was decaying, he would continue to live until it completely withered away.
Everything in the Matou family had been established by him, and it served him alone. So, in a way, his words weren't wrong.
"Then I just have to get rid of you."
Zuke's gaze swept over the surrounding bugs. The Matou mansion was filled with Matou Zouken's insects, but most of those outside the worm cellar were likely not his true form.
After all, today was supposed to be the day Matou Zouken began altering Sakura's body, a key move in his Fifth Holy Grail War strategy.
Such a crucial event meant he would definitely be observing closely in the worm cellar, ensuring nothing went wrong.
"Get rid of me? I admit your spatial ability is powerful, but isn't its range limited?"
Based on Zuke's performance from the courtyard to the front door, and the results of his last wave of attacks, Matou Zouken believed he had seen through everything.
"With so many bugs here, can you destroy them all at once?"
Matou Zouken was confident his true form wouldn't be exposed. His core insect looked almost identical to the others, so even if Zuke had keen eyesight, it wouldn't make a difference.
In his mind, the only way to kill him was to destroy every bug in the worm cellar. But… did Zuke have that kind of power?
"Not really."
Zuke rubbed his chin. If he knew the Kamehameha, like Master Roshi, he could just blow up the whole Matou mansion in one blast.
Sure, the Matou mansion was big, but was it any bigger than Fire Mountain and its castle in Dragon Ball?
"But who said I need to kill all the bugs at once?"
Matou Zouken's triumphant laughter froze instantly when he saw Zuke's gaze fixed directly on him.
Matou Zouken's true body was a crest worm, hidden among countless other bugs in the depths of the worm cellar. It should have been impossible to find—yet Zuke had indeed looked straight at it.
"What... What did you say?"
Panic surged within Matou Zouken. Thinking it was merely a coincidence, he quickly tried to shift to the side.
And then he noticed—Zuke's eyes followed him, precisely.
"He's not bluffing. He really has pinpointed my true form!"
His sense of certain victory vanished, replaced by terror. Matou Zouken couldn't fathom how Zuke had identified his core.
Matou Zouken had no understanding of "ki," and since he didn't know what it was, he couldn't grasp how Zuke had sensed him.
"I... No!"
Matou Zouken tried to flee, but he felt his body stiffen. He was forcefully pulled out of the swarm of bugs.
To Sakura and Matou Zouken, the worm seemed to hover midair on its own.
But in Zuke's eyes, Blackbird was floating above the worm cellar—having just plucked Matou Zouken's true form from the swarm.
"Sorry, but I don't plan on leaving any loose ends. Just to prevent any lingering plot points, I'll have you die."
Looking at the struggling worm held by Blackbird, Zuke spoke without hesitation.
Without waiting for Matou Zouken's retort, Zuke commanded Blackbird to tighten its grip. With 40 points of battle power, it crushed the disgusting worm into pieces.
To prevent any potential for revival, Zuke had Blackbird follow up with a blast of Void miasma, completely erasing the remnants of Matou Zouken's true form.
To be continued…
Psst, Ningen. You are under arrest. Hand over your Power Stones if you want to live!
Advance 50 chapters are up on my Patreon.
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