"What exactly happened?"
However, at this moment, Kariya Matou was utterly bewildered.
He didn't know what had happened here.
And where his nominal father, who was actually a zombie old man who had lived for countless years, had taken Sakura.
As for the possibility that the Old Bug was already dead, Kariya Matou didn't even consider it.
How could such a person die so easily?
"Damn it!"
"Did I still come too late?"
Kicking a nearby streetlamp, Kariya Matou murmured, "Sakura, where exactly are you?"
Thinking of the torment that innocent and pure girl might have suffered, Kariya Matou felt immense guilt and self-reproach.
"No, I still have a chance."
"If I can summon a powerful Heroic Spirit, I will definitely be able to find Sakura!"
Looking at the blood-red mark on the back of his hand, this was the proof of being chosen by the Holy Grail.
If it had been before, Kariya Matou, who disliked magecraft, wouldn't have cared about such a boring "177" thing.
But now, it had clearly become his last straw!
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Kariya?"
Just as Kariya Matou was pondering how to extract enough magical energy from the Matou Family's heritage to participate in the Holy Grail War, a figure appeared behind the young man.
"Who?!"
Kariya Matou turned around in a panic, and then his pupils constricted.
"You..."
Appearing before Kariya Matou was none other than the Oni girl in miko attire—Zhu Cai!
"Horns?"
"You're not human?"
Kariya Matou naturally knew about the legends of Japanese Oni, and considering the upcoming Holy Grail War, he asked, "Is it you? The Heroic Spirit who destroyed the Matou residence?"
Not human, appearing here, and giving him an incredibly dangerous aura.
With these three factors combined, the only thing Kariya Matou could think of was the reason given by the Holy Grail System for the early start: the Heroic Spirit who had arrived early!
And now, she appeared before him.
Kariya Matou thought of a possibility—she was here to silence him!
"A Heroic Spirit?"
"You could say that."
"Also, please don't misunderstand, I have no ill will towards Mr. Kariya."
Zhu Cai smiled slightly, then made a gesture of invitation: "The reason I appeared here is by my master's command, to invite Mr. Kariya for a meeting with him."
"Your master?"
"Who is he?"
Kariya Matou originally wanted to refuse, but Zhu Cai's next words made him unable to remain calm.
"If you wish to see Sakura, please come with me."
"Sakura?!"
Kariya Matou: "Where is Sakura? What have you done to her?"
"Don't worry, the child is very safe now."
"Take me there!"
As the first pure love war god of the Fourth Holy Grail War, though Kariya Matou was tragic, his care for Sakura was undeniable.
As long as he could save Sakura, Kariya Matou was willing to do anything.
"Please do not resist."
After Zhu Cai finished speaking, she cast spatial magic and directly took Kariya Matou to the villa where Bai Luo currently resided.
Yes, a villa.
To provide Sakura with a better living environment, Bai Luo moved out of the hotel the day after checking in.
Using magic, he easily obtained ownership of this villa.
And yes, Bai Luo paid for it.
Moreover, he bought the entire villa at three times the market price.
"This is...?"
"My Master and Sakura are waiting in the study."
So, led by Zhu Cai, Kariya Matou passed through the courtyard and arrived at a study in the villa.
"Come in."
The large door opened automatically, revealing a spacious study spanning over a hundred square meters.
Inside the study, Bai Luo was sitting there, playing a game of Go with a beautiful girl with snow-like long hair.
On the other side, Sakura was hugging a doll, surrounded by various toys.
The girl was not alone.
Beside her, there was a cute loli of about twelve or thirteen years old, wearing a hooded kimono, playing with her.
"Sakura!!"
Seeing Sakura safe and sound, Kariya Matou breathed a sigh of relief and cried out in excitement.
"..."
Sakura, noticing an outsider, instinctively hid behind Egui Peng.
She naturally recognized the man in front of her; it was Uncle Kariya, whom she used to like very much.
But that was in the past.
Now, Sakura's heart was already filled with Bai Luo, leaving no room for anyone else.
"Sakura..."
Seeing Sakura's reaction, Kariya Matou's steps, which had been about to move forward, suddenly paused.
Clearly, she must have suffered inhuman torment at the Matou Family.
'If only I had come back sooner, Sakura might not have...'
Thinking that Sakura might have been tormented by disgusting bugs, Kariya Matou felt immense heartache.
He wanted to take Sakura home.
However, before Kariya Matou could speak, Sakura, who had already anticipated what he was going to say, quickly ran to Bai Luo's side, gripping his sleeve tightly.
"I don't want to go back!"
"Brother Bai Luo, please don't abandon Sakura..."
In these past few days, Sakura had recovered quite well under Bai Luo's care.
As for the psychological trauma from the Crest Worms.
That was not something that could be changed overnight.
Furthermore, Bai Luo had already promised Sakura that he would not abandon her.
'If my plan succeeds, I can break the restriction that only familiars can travel between worlds.'
Even if it failed, Bai Luo would leave Sakura enough fallback options.
For example, this villa, and the bank savings Bai Luo had prepared in advance, would be enough to ensure Sakura's well-being when he left.
"Please sit, Mr. Kariya."
Bai Luo stood up and sat down face-to-face with Kariya Matou, then spoke, "You should have already seen the situation at the Matou residence. Yes, I did that."
"As for the reason, you can just assume I couldn't stand that Old Bug bullying an innocent little girl like that."
After speaking, Bai Luo gently stroked Sakura's head, letting her sit beside him.
"Um, thank you for saving Sakura."
Seeing Sakura so dependent on Bai Luo, Kariya Matou was already seventy to eighty percent convinced: "So, are you also a participant in the Holy Grail War?"
"That's right."
Heroic Spirits are, of course, also participants.
"Thank you again for saving Sakura!"
Kariya Matou asked, "So, Mr. Bai Luo, why did you ask me to come here?"
"I want your Command Spells."
Bai Luo didn't beat around the bush, directly stating his objective.
"Command Spells?"
Kariya Matou glanced at the red mark on the back of his hand. He thought for a moment and said, "Alright, as compensation for helping me save Sakura, you can have my Command Spells."
His original purpose for wanting to participate in the Holy Grail War was to save Sakura.
But now, the Old Bug had been 'defeated' by Bai Luo (Kariya didn't believe the Old Bug was dead), and Sakura had also been saved.
Therefore, these 0.4 Command Seals were meaningless to him.
It was reasonable to give them to Bai Luo as a reward.
"No."
Bai Luo shook his head and said, "You should indeed give me a reward, but not because of Sakura, but because I helped you kill that Old Bug!"
"What?!"
Hearing Bai Luo's words, Kariya Matou instinctively stood up: "How is that possible! That guy, how could you possibly kill him?!"
If he could, Kariya Matou would also want to kill the Old Bug.
However, having grown up in the Matou Family since childhood, he was well aware of how terrifying the Old Bug was.
"Is it because of the Crest Worms?"
Bai Luo directly revealed the secret of the Old Bug's immortality: "Don't worry, I locked onto that guy's soul and destroyed all of his substitutes."
"..."
How to kill the Old Bug, even Kariya Matou didn't know such a thing.
But in Bai Luo's mouth, killing the Old Bug seemed no harder than crushing an ant.