Deep within the courtyard, the moonlight was desolate and hazy.
This was the Matou Family Mansion, exuding an air of decay and gloom. Kariya Matou, the only remaining youth in the family with magical talent, yet who consequently felt immense pain and powerlessness, sat alone under the veranda, gazing blankly at the cold moonlight.
He had been deeply mired in the shadow of Tohsaka Aoi's impending marriage to Tohsaka Tokiomi, his heart filled with regret and self-loathing.
He loved Aoi so deeply, yet he keenly felt his own insignificance and incompetence. He didn't even have the right to stand up and object, let alone protect the person he loved.
Just then, a set of unhurried footsteps broke the silence of the night.
Kariya instinctively looked up to see several uninvited guests already stepping into the courtyard.
When his eyes focused on the newcomers, his pupils contracted sharply—he saw Tohsaka Aoi. She was as beautiful as ever, but her expression held a submissive softness he had never seen before, a dependence on another.
What made his heart nearly stop, however, was the handsome yet sinister-looking stranger by Aoi's side.
In the man's hand was a pitch-black dog leash.
The other end of the leash was fastened around the neck of a person kneeling on the ground, crawling like livestock.
When Kariya Matou, under the cold moonlight, finally saw the face of that "person," he felt his breath catch—
It was... the head of the Tohsaka Family, the man he had always seen as his rival, proud, elegant, and radiant like the sun.
Wasn't that Tohsaka Tokiomi?
Kariya Matou's expression shifted slightly, his brows unconsciously furrowing. His gaze swept between Kanjuro and Tohsaka Aoi before finally settling on Aoi's uneasy face.
"Aoi, what's going on?" His voice held unmistakable concern and confusion.
Tohsaka Aoi instinctively looked up at Kanjuro, her clear eyes filled with bewilderment.
She completely failed to understand why Kanjuro had specifically brought her to see Kariya Matou.
A nameless unease spread in her heart, turning into a faint sorrow.
"Kanjuro," her voice trembled slightly, carrying a hint of pleading, "you're not planning to harm Kariya, are you? He... he's genuinely a good person. He's kind to me and to all his friends. He's definitely not some irredeemably evil person."
Hearing this, Kanjuro merely curled the corner of his mouth in a meaningful, inscrutable smile, seemingly too lazy to offer any further explanation for Tohsaka Aoi's worries.
He walked straight towards Kariya Matou.
Kariya Matou took a wary half-step back, his body tensing slightly. "What do you want?" His voice was guarded.
The response was a cold, white light that suddenly flared at Kanjuro's fingertip.
This was precisely one of the abilities bestowed upon him earlier by that Demon Sister, Chiyo, and it now came in handy.
In an instant, memory fragments belonging to Kariya Matou from the prequel story of "Fate/Zero"—fragments filled with pain and despair—forced their way into his mind like a breached flood, instantly overlapping with reality—
He saw countless squirming, nauseating Crest Worms;
He saw the young Sakura Matou being mercilessly pushed into that dark worm pit teeming with insects;
And he saw his own final, tragic, and powerless end... The intense mental shock made his body tremble uncontrollably. A sweet taste rose in his throat, and he violently coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face instantly turning as pale as paper.
"You... what did you just show me?!" Kariya Matou clutched his head, which felt like it was about to explode, roaring in agony, his voice hoarse from extreme emotion.
"How pitiful,"
Kanjuro's voice whispered like a demon in his ear, "to watch helplessly as the woman you love misunderstands you, to even have to help raise another man's daughter, yet in the end, you can change nothing, protect nothing... So, tell me, whose fault is it, really?"
These words were the final straw, completely shattering Kariya Matou's sanity.
He jerked his head up, his eyes bloodshot and crimson with rage. The resentment and fury accumulated over countless cycles, like tangible flames, seemed ready to erupt.
His gaze fixed dead on Tohsaka Tokiomi not far away, his stare as if he wanted to devour the other man alive.
Tohsaka Tokiomi was momentarily taken aback by this gaze filled with ultimate hatred. Then, the arrogance of a noble Magician quickly restored his composure, even stirring a sense of offended anger.
"You lowly scion of an inferior Magician family,"
his voice was icy, dripping with undisguised contempt,
"how dare you look at me with such eyes?" He could tolerate a certain degree of "rudeness" from Kanjuro because he instinctively sensed a terrifying, unknown power within Kanjuro that made him wary.
But Kariya Matou? This mediocre, low-blooded offspring of the Matou Family in his eyes—what gave him the right to look at him like that? It only made him feel disgust and displeasure.
"Kanjuro, what on earth... is happening?" Beside them, Tohsaka Aoi watched Kariya Matou coughing blood, descending into madness, then looked at Kanjuro's composed demeanor. Everything today felt utterly abnormal.
"Do you want to know the truth?" Kanjuro tilted his head, leaning close to her ear, his warm breath brushing her earlobe. Simultaneously, his finger gently touched Tohsaka Aoi's smooth forehead, just as he had done to Kariya Matou moments before.
Tohsaka Aoi felt a "buzz" in her head. Countless chaotic yet clear images flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern—she saw the tragic fate of her future daughter,
She saw what would happen to her if she married Tohsaka Tokiomi,
That seemingly glamorous but actually cold and desperate fate... The massive amount of information and heavy emotional impact made her body suddenly stiffen, and then she couldn't help but tremble violently, almost collapsing to the ground.
Kanjuro reached out his arm at the right moment, grabbing her slender waist and pulling her delicate body into his arms to support her.
"How is it?" His deep voice carried a hint of playfulness.
"You always say your Master Kanjuro isn't a good person. Well, I've just done a 'good deed' for you by letting you see the future and avoid tragedy. Shouldn't you... thank me properly?"
Tohsaka Aoi looked up at Kanjuro with a dazed expression, her mind still immersed in those terrifying visions of the future.
She nodded subconsciously, one hand instinctively moving to her lower abdomen—ever since her last sexual encounter with Kanjuro, there had been a strange sense of discomfort there.
"The gears of fate have already changed because of me,"
Kanjuro's tongue lightly licked the corner of her mouth, with a possessiveness that seemed to declare his ownership.
"Now, our daughter will have a completely different, much more 'excellent' future. I've helped you so much; shouldn't you show some gratitude? Or... do you still love that Tohsaka Tokiomi in your heart?"
"No!" Tohsaka Aoi retorted almost immediately, her voice turning bone-chillingly cold due to lingering fear and sudden realization.
"I loathe that man! I hate him!"
The scenes of the future completely obliterated the last shred of obedience she had toward Tohsaka Tokiomi, which had only existed because of their family marriage.
Kariya Matou also struggled to look at Tohsaka Aoi at this moment. From the drastic change in her eyes and tone, he understood something. "Aoi... did you... also remember something?"
"Yes." Tohsaka Aoi nodded heavily. At this moment, her heart seemed to be blackened by those dark memories, and an unprecedented ruthlessness replaced her former genleness. She pointed at Tohsaka Tokiomi and issued a cold command to Kariya Matou, who had always loved her deeply: "Kariya! Kill him!"
"Alright!" Kariya Matou didn't hesitate for a second, the hatred accumulating in his eyes reaching its peak.
"Remember, dismember him," Kanjuro's deep voice added, like a final judgment.
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