The night, like thick ink, completely stained the Matou Mansion. The cold wind howled outside the ancient building, like a dirge for the dead.
In her sleep, Sakura's slumber was quietly deepened by Kanjuro's Black Magic, leaving her completely unaware of what was happening. She was brought to that secret chamber of the Worm Den filled with the scent of decay and evil.
Cold, rough wooden stakes were erected at the edge of the Worm Den. Below was that sea of Crest Worms, wriggling slowly like living things, emitting a sickly sweet and foul stench.
Sakura's small body was tied to the stake with tough ropes, her hands hung high, and her feet barely touching a horizontal branch. She was like a sacrificial lamb, suspended over the abyss. Her little face still held the tranquility of sleep, forming a heartbreaking contrast with the surrounding environment. If the rope loosened slightly or she lost her balance, she would fall into the endless, waiting swarm of worms below.
Kanjuro finished all this as if completing the preliminary shaping of a work of art. He glanced at the silent Jeanne beside him, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold arc. The two of them, like ghosts merging into the shadows, arrived silently at Kariya Matou's room.
Lancelot, the maddened Knight of the Round Table, though possessing powerful combat instincts, was like one whose eyes and ears were covered before Kanjuro's hidden authority from the dark bible, which operated almost at the level of rules. He was completely unaware of the intrusion of the two uninvited guests.
Kanjuro stood before the sleeping Kariya Matou's bed and slowly opened his palm. Invisible, twisted ripples emanated from his palm, enveloping Kariya's body.
[Constitution Alteration Authority] — Activate!
It was "237," neither destruction nor strengthening, but a "redefinition" of essence.
Kanjuro carefully, like the most precise instrument operator, began to alter Kariya Matou's physical essence. He twisted and transformed the traces of the Crest Worms that were originally just passively carried to provide magical energy, changing their core attributes so that he was no longer just a "host," but became an irresistible temptation for the Crest Worms—a "Mother"!
From now on, Kariya Matou's body would no longer be a dwelling place for the Crest Worms, but like a queen bee to worker bees, it would be the ultimate destination they instinctively longed to approach, protect, and even... merge with! His flesh and his magical energy would all exert a fatal attraction on the Crest Worms.
Completing this evil modification, Kanjuro satisfiedly withdrew his hand. Kariya Matou frowned slightly in his sleep, seemingly feeling some indescribable change, but the deep sleep and the hidden influence applied by Kanjuro prevented him from waking up.
Kanjuro and Jeanne quietly left again, as if they had never appeared.
In the dead of night, only the cold wind tirelessly beat against the window.
In his sleep, Kariya Matou's brow furrowed tighter and tighter. He wasn't awakened by the cold, but vaguely heard a... extremely faint cry that pierced his heart like the tip of a needle.
That voice... it was Sakura!
"Ugh... Uncle... Kariya... save... save me..."
The intermittent sobbing, full of fear and helplessness, seemed to come from the distant underground, yet also seemed to linger right by his ear. Kariya's heart suddenly contracted, and he instantly woke up from his sleep, cold sweat soaking his clothes!
It wasn't a hallucination! This crying... came from the direction of the Worm Den!
An extremely ominous premonition, like ice water poured over his head, made him feel cold all over. He didn't have time to think, jumping up from the bed, not even bothering to dress properly, and roared hoarsely at the shadow in the corner: "Bsk! Come with me!!"
Lancelot, like an awakened beast, his crimson eyes lighting up in the darkness, followed his master silently and swiftly.
Relying on his familiarity with the Mansion and his extreme concern for Sakura's safety, Kariya Matou almost scrambled and crawled toward that secret chamber of the Worm Den that he was so familiar with, yet also so loathed!
When he slammed open that heavy, moth-eaten wooden door, the scene before him struck him like a bolt of lightning, and his blood seemed to freeze instantly!
In the center of the secret room, on a solitary wooden stake, his precious Sakura Matou was tied up with rough ropes and suspended there!
She seemed to have just been jolted awake from a deep sleep in some manner, her large eyes filled with ignorant terror and tears. Her small body trembled violently from the cold and fear as she helplessly whimpered his name.
Directly beneath her was that terrifying insect pit, like a black swamp where countless Crest Worms tumbled, writhed, and intertwined with each other!
Those insects seemed stimulated by the fresh aura of life above, becoming even more restless. Countless tiny appendages rubbed together, producing a scalp-numbing rustling sound like a hungry tide, constantly trying to climb upward, only inches away from Sakura Matou's dangling feet!
As long as the rope snapped or Sakura Matou struggled and lost her balance due to fear, her petite body would be completely swallowed and gnawed away by this endless tide of insects in the next second!
"Sakura!!!" Kariya Matou let out a heart-wrenching roar, his eyes nearly bursting as he charged forward recklessly.
However, the moment he stepped into the range of the insect pit, a sudden change occurred!
Those Crest Worms, which had been primarily restless beneath Sakura Matou, seemed to instantly sense a more attractive existence. Like a pack of sharks scenting blood, they abruptly changed direction!
They no longer just stared at Sakura Matou above, but like a black tide, they let out even more frantic hisses and surged madly toward Kariya Matou, who had just entered the secret room! They climbed up his ankles and spread up his trouser legs, as if to completely submerge and merge with this newly appeared, "maternal" existence!
"Ugh!" Kariya was caught off guard by this sudden, unprecedentedly frantic attack, and his body stumbled.
He felt his magical energy being rapidly consumed to resist the erosion of these insects, but even more terrifying was a cold fear originating from the depths of his soul, as if he were being assimilated and swallowed, which instantly seized him!
He looked up at the crying Sakura Matou above, then down at the insect tide frantically surging toward him, and a desperate thought exploded in his mind—
This was a trap! An incredibly malicious and precise trap aimed at both him and Sakura Matou!
And the person who set this trap... who else could it be but that demon Kanjuro?!
"Kanjuro!!!!" Kariya Matou let out a roar mixed with endless pain, anger, and despair, which echoed shrilly in this insect pit filled with decay and hopelessness.
Sakura Matou was completely jolted awake by the restlessness of the insect swarm below and Kariya Matou's shrill roar.
She opened her eyes blankly, teardrops still hanging from her long eyelashes. When her vision focused and she saw the scene below, her tender little face instantly lost all color, filled with unbelievable terror.
She saw that Uncle Kariya, who was usually serious but always silently cared for her, was now being submerged by countless pitch-black, viscous Crest Worms! Those insects seemed to have found their home, feverishly entwining and clinging to him, almost completely covering his human form.
And Uncle Kariya seemed to be enduring immense pain, yet for some reason, those insects did not immediately gnaw him to pieces; instead, they seemed to be... clinging to him?
This bizarre scene made her think of terrifying possibilities, which her small head simply could not understand.
"Uncle... Kariya?" she said in a trembling voice, with a sob.
Just then, an old and "steady" voice rang out, breaking the suffocating situation. Matou Zouken walked in, leaning on his cane, his steps "staggering" yet swift, with a look of well-timed "shock" and "anger" on his face.
"Sakura! Don't be afraid, Grandfather is here!" He first shouted reassuringly to Sakura Matou, then turned his sharp (but actually guilty) gaze toward Kariya Matou, who was enveloped by the insect swarm, his voice carrying painful reproach:
"Kariya! You... you've truly disappointed me! How could you do such a thing?! Kidnapping Sakura and bringing her here?! You cared for her so much before, could it be that because you're jealous and you hate Kanjuro, you're venting your anger on innocent Sakura?! You're absolutely insane!"
This series of accusations, like cold knives, stabbed not only at Kariya but also at Sakura Matou nearby.
"No! It's not like that! Father! It's you! It must be you and Kanjuro conspiring against me!!" Kariya Matou struggled violently within the insect swarm, his voice distorted by pain and anger. He tried to explain, his gaze toward Sakura Matou filled with anxiety and pleading, "Sakura! It wasn't me!! How could I hurt you! Believe me!!"
However, his explanation seemed so pale and weak in the face of this "ironclad evidence" before them. Sakura Matou looked at his hideous appearance surrounded by countless terrifying insects and heard his hoarse roars; she instinctively felt fear, and her small body shrank back, avoiding his pleading gaze.
This subtle movement was like the final straw that broke Kariya Matou's heart.
Matou Zouken sneered inwardly, while on the surface, he wore an expression of grief and indignation over a failure.
Taking advantage of the fact that most of the Crest Worms in the pit were attracted by Kariya's special "maternal" constitution and had temporarily ignored the threat to Sakura Matou, he quickly stepped forward. He nimbly untied the ropes binding Sakura Matou, took her down from the wooden stake, held her tightly in his arms, and soothed her in an old voice:
"It's alright, it's alright, Sakura, good child, don't be afraid, Grandfather will protect you and will never let anyone hurt you."
Sakura Matou hid in Matou Zouken's arms, still shaken, her small hands tightly clutching his lapels. She raised her tear-filled face and asked timidly, "But... Grandfather, Uncle Kariya... is he really a bad person? He used to be... very good to me..."
The blurred images in her memory of Uncle Kariya secretly giving her candy and staying by her bed when she was sick intertwined with the terrifying scene before her, making her incredibly confused and sad.
Matou Zouken lowered his head, leaned close to Sakura Matou's ear, and spoke in a low whisper full of suggestion and malice that only the two of them could hear, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue:
"Sakura, you are too naive. One may know a person's face but not their heart. Kariya... he has always had... abnormal thoughts and fantasies about you that go beyond a father's for a daughter. He's jealous of your intimacy with Lord Ye Xiao. What he wants isn't just to be your uncle... he wants to possess you completely and utterly, to make you belong only to him. This is his true face!"
This extremely malicious slander was like the filthiest ink splashed onto all of Kariya Matou's sincere efforts.
Although Sakura Matou was young, she had a vague, negative understanding of the word "possession." Associating it with those insects and the fact that she had almost fallen down to be eaten, her face instantly turned as pale as paper, and her body began to tremble violently.
"No... it's not like that... Sakura... please... believe me..."
Kariya Matou saw the change in Sakura Matou's expression and the fear and estrangement rising in her eyes. He let out a desperate cry like that of a dying beast, a sound so shrill it seemed capable of tearing the soul apart. He was being dragged and devoured by endless Crest Worms, his magical energy was being frantically consumed, and his flesh was suffering the pain of erosion, but what hurt far more was Sakura Matou's gaze, which no longer held trust but was instead filled with fear and... a hint of disgust.
"Think about it," Matou Zouken added fuel to the fire at the right moment, his voice carrying a seductive quality, "if he didn't have ill intentions, why would you be tied up here? Above these terrifying insects? Isn't this the best proof?"
Logic was forcibly twisted, and fear was maliciously guided.
Sakura Matou looked at Kariya, whose appearance was becoming more and more terrifying as he struggled in the sea of insects, and then thought back to "Grandfather's" words. The scales in her heart finally tipped completely. Sadness, fear, and the feeling of being betrayed overwhelmed her.
"So... so Uncle Kariya... really isn't a good person..." she murmured to herself, large tears rolling down, "No wonder... no wonder Sister always disliked you and was unwilling to get close to you... I... I understand now... sob..."
She buried her face in Matou Zouken's arms, which smelled of stale decay, as if that were the only sanctuary, and cried out:
"sob... Uncle Kanjuro... where are you... Sakura is so scared... save Sakura..."
At this moment, all of Kariya Matou's struggles seemed to stop.
He stared blankly at the girl he was willing to protect with his life, hearing the words from her mouth that completely condemned him and called out the name of another demon... The endless Crest Worms took the opportunity to completely submerge him.
In the darkness, only those eyes remained, gradually losing their light yet still frozen with endless grief and despair, as if silently questioning this absurd and cruel fate.
And the instigator of all this was perhaps hiding in some corner, pleasantly enjoying this perfectly concluded tragedy he had directed himself.
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