Although the light of the Noble Phantasm release shot up into the sky, fortunately, not all of the barriers were broken. Therefore, for ordinary people, they only heard a loud noise and saw a flash of light. This was somewhat consistent with a gas explosion.
What? You say the light from a gas explosion isn't this pure white? It should be that orange-red color.
It doesn't matter. As long as someone believes it, that's enough. At worst, it's just a matter of the Church doing a little more persuading. If that really doesn't work, isn't there still such a thing as magic?
Old Man Risei, who was originally in the Church estimating the losses at the port, after seeing this holy light, widened his eyes and couldn't stop making the sign of the cross on his chest, exclaiming that a saint had come to this small city. While looking at the light shooting up into the sky, he lamented that the logistical work their church had to do had increased quite a bit.
Every single one of these was money, damn it! The money spent in every Holy Grail War, when accumulated, was already comparable to the church's expenses for several years on a normal day.
Old Man Risei pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a strange premonition that this time, the amount of money their church would have to spend would probably be the most in the history of the Holy Grail Wars. The inside of the Church was not as united against the outside as people thought. Where there are people, there is a "jianghu" (world of conflict). The longer an organization exists, the more likely it is for sectarian disputes to arise. The Holy Church, no matter how you put it, was a thousand-year-old organization. It was normal for such an organization to have internal conflicts. Right now, the old man just hoped that no matter how much trouble was caused, they wouldn't cut their funding here. Originally, faking a gas explosion already required a large amount of funds to create public opinion, for later maintenance, and for personnel arrangements. If they couldn't come up with some money, even if they took out their private funds, it would be a bit of a shortfall. But they couldn't just let the world of mystery appear before the eyes of ordinary people.
Adults have their own helplessness and worries. But the location from which this holy light shot up, why did it look so familiar? That seemed to be the location of the Matou family, one of the three founding families of the Holy Grail War! Could it be that someone had taken the opportunity to attack the Matou family?
This was big news!
Old Man Risei immediately walked out of the church, looking from afar in the direction of the rising black smoke.
As for the Tohsaka family, not far from the Matou family, at this very moment, Tokiomi was receiving the eye-rolls of his own Servant, that is, Gilgamesh. To actually use a Command Spell to order him! Even if it was disguised as "advice," it couldn't change the fact that it was a forced command. In this guy's eyes, was he that uncontrollable? What's more, it was as if his own kingly authority had been challenged.
As for this holy light shooting up into the sky, in Gilgamesh's eyes, it was nothing more than making this game, which had already angered him somewhat, even more interesting. After all, only surprises that were outside the plan could bring a different kind of feeling.
---
In the basement of the Matou family, Aslan put away the divine spear in his hand and then began to search for the girl who should be in this basement space at this moment. In the process, perhaps because the leader of the insects was already dead, the insects that had originally been cultivated in the basement began to scurry around everywhere. This made Aslan have no choice but to maintain the flame that enveloped him. He couldn't let these disgusting insects crawl up his body. What's more, these insects were likely cultivated using humans as fertilizer. Looking at some of the closed rooms in this basement, one could occasionally see skeletons that had not been completely gnawed clean by the insects.
Aslan pushed open the doors one by one, casually using Faerie Letters to throw out a ball of fire, burning all the insects to a crisp. If he saw that the insect breeding rooms still had faint traces of human remains, he would also let the holy light wash over the entire room. Although he was not religious, if it was to save these lost souls, the Lord on high should forgive him, a "Son of God" who was just faking it with holy light. After all, he was indeed on the official register.
On the other side, the little black-haired girl slowly pushed open the door of the basement she was in. Originally, she would not have dared to do this. But with the holy light from not long ago shining into her eyes from the crack, a voice sounded in the girl's heart, telling her that she was now free. The insects that had been clinging to her all this time had all scattered. These insects, which had been stuck to her and even wanted to burrow into her body, had all scattered just like that. This was something that would have been absolutely impossible when her grandfather was around. So, had a miracle really occurred?
The little girl looked at the door she had pushed open with all her might. Not a single insect was trying to push her back into the darkness. Not a single voice was scolding her. Was she really free now?
The emotions that had been sealed for so long erupted from within her heart. The girl directly grabbed an insect from the side and smashed it fiercely onto another insect. Looking at the two insects turning into a bloody mess, with a somewhat fishy smell and blood flowing out, a strange smile suddenly curled at the corner of the girl's mouth.
In the end, such a long period of torment had caused a certain change in this girl's mentality. Looking at the blood flowing from these insects, the girl felt that much of the grievance in her heart had been vented. So, she stood up and continuously raised her foot, stomping one insect after another to death.
"Die! Die! Die—!!"
The girl's voice naturally also attracted Aslan. When Aslan arrived here, what he saw was a young girl who was constantly venting her emotions, looking a bit like a little madman.
The light from the holy spear on his pendant gradually covered the girl's body, helping her to calm her emotions. With the help of this holy light, the girl, whose body was covered in the blood of insects, finally gradually calmed down.
Those eyes, which seemed to have no emotion, met Aslan's. There was no pleading, nor was there any joy. If Aslan was willing to help her and take her with him, that would be a good thing for the girl. And if Aslan didn't plan to do anything, the girl didn't seem to have any regrets either. It was just one person, after all. After experiencing so many things, the young girl was far more mature than one might imagine.
Looking at the little girl before him, Aslan sighed. Come to think of it, it was about time for him to find a successor for all that he had learned in his life. "Matou Sakura... I shall call you that for now. I am in need of a disciple right now. If you have no place to return to, then follow me."