Matou Residence.
Looking at Matou Kariya—who had now become even more Berserker-like than an actual Berserker-class Servant—Leon's lips curled into a wicked smile.
On the back of his right hand, the jet-black sword-shaped mark formed from the Ebony Blade twisted and reshaped itself into a crimson spiral, disguising itself as the Command Seals that symbolized a Master.
"Preparations are complete. Now… where should I make my first appearance?"
After temporarily sinking the frenzied Matou Kariya into the shadows for containment, Leon held Matou Sakura close against his chest with one arm supporting her small backside, while the other hand rested against his chin in thought.
Noticing a subtle shift in Sakura's expression, Leon pinched her soft cheek lightly. At the same time, his Observation Haki remained firmly locked onto her heart.
"What's wrong, Sakura?"
"Uncle Leon… will Uncle Kariya die?"
Sakura blinked her dull violet eyes—eyes devoid of light—while allowing Leon to knead her face into various shapes.
"He will."
"But not now. Everyone dies eventually."
Leon had no intention of lying to Sakura. He preferred honesty. Once everything was over, there would be no reason for Matou Kariya to remain alive.
He was essentially an Emiya Shirou without the protagonist's luck—weak and indecisive. Everything he had done was merely an attempt to steal someone else's wife and child.
The idea itself wasn't necessarily good or bad. After all, Leon was far worse.
But having ambitions without the strength to realize them—that was Kariya's greatest sin.
That was precisely why Tohsaka Aoi had suppressed her courage back then. Acting with cautious rationality, she chose the more outstanding Tohsaka Tokiomi, even though she once held special feelings for Kariya.
If only he had tried a little harder back then…
Perhaps everything would have turned out differently.
Sometimes, when reminiscing about the youth that had long since passed, Aoi still thought about it that way. Yet the faint romantic affection she once felt for Kariya had long been worn away by time.
Now, her love for Tokiomi was genuine.
Once life settled into stability, time itself had already made the choice for her.
"Uncle Leon… will I die too?"
Sakura asked again.
For her, death might be a form of release.
Yet the instinctive fear of death still made her small body tremble.
Even though the sensation of those worms burrowing through her body—violating and tormenting her—felt far worse than death…
"Maybe you will. Maybe you won't. God will decide based on his mood."
Leon tapped his temple with a finger. The warm smile on his face—one that could easily charm anyone—looked strangely dazzling in Sakura's eyes.
"I've decided."
"First, I'll find you a playmate your age."
"I'm not very good at taking care of children."
Leon chuckled.
He had no particular interest in girls like Sakura. His preference was for mature women with full figures and childbearing hips.
The only reason he was giving Sakura special care was because he had taken pity on her tragic situation on a whim.
Like picking up a stray kitten abandoned by its owner and abused by passersby until it was on the brink of death.
You nurse it back to health.
Clean it up.
Restore its vitality and beauty.
Then slowly earn its trust until it willingly crawls into your arms seeking affection.
It was troublesome, certainly.
But the sense of accomplishment was quite satisfying.
"Do you like rainbows?"
Leon held Sakura with one arm while absentmindedly kneading the soft collagen in her cheeks with the other. Sakura offered no resistance.
She looked so fragile—like a porcelain doll—that one might even feel the impulse to crush her with a squeeze.
"I like them."
"They're beautiful."
A faint glimmer appeared in Sakura's violet eyes.
"In that case—"
Snap!
Leon stopped playing with her cheek and snapped his fingers.
A rainbow suddenly descended from the sky.
It blasted straight through the ceiling and landed less than half a meter in front of Leon and Sakura.
"Want to touch it?"
Leon smiled.
The colorless violet in Sakura's eyes was dyed into brilliant seven-colored hues by the light of the Bifrost.
She nodded obediently and reached out her hand toward it.
And then—
"Eeeeek!!!!"
The intense sensation of weightlessness—far more thrilling than any roller coaster—made Sakura instantly scream in panic.
"Hahahahaha!"
Amid Leon's triumphant laughter, the two of them were swallowed by the Bifrost, transforming into a streak of rainbow light that shot into the sky and vanished beyond the clouds.
Crackle!
Moments later—
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.
It was Rider, Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, arriving in his Gordius Wheel, pulled by divine bulls, with Waver Velvet beside him.
Looking down at the Matou mansion—its roof blasted open with a massive hole—there was not a single trace of life inside.
Only an icy chill lingered in the air.
"Rider! Couldn't you go a little slower—more gently?! I nearly threw up from that ride—blegh!"
Waver shivered violently, rubbing his hands together and breathing warm air into them. His face was flushed strangely from both fright and the cold.
Then he suddenly bent over and began vomiting beside the chariot.
Iskandar scratched his head in dissatisfaction.
"Where is he?"
"He issued a challenge, so why retreat before the battle even begins?"
"Maybe… he got scared by you?"
After emptying his stomach, Waver offered his guess.
Iskandar immediately slapped him on the shoulder.
Waver had just finished vomiting; his body was weak and his legs shaky.
He lost his balance and collapsed forward—ending up kneeling directly in front of Iskandar from an angle that could easily be misunderstood by someone viewing from behind.
"Idiot!"
"That opponent is a formidable warrior unlike any I've encountered before. Someone with that level of strength is certainly no ordinary foe."
"He must have something more important to accomplish."
Iskandar raised his gaze toward the sky.
High above, the clouds had been torn open by the passage of the Bifrost, leaving behind a massive circular gap.
He carefully tried to sense the lingering magical energy.
But he could not track the target at all.
The confidence he had initially shown as a mighty king gradually turned into solemn seriousness.
"And his mobility surpasses even mine as a Rider-class Servant…"
"Is he an Archer? Or perhaps an Assassin…"
"Ah? Is that so? Then what should we do now?"
Waver looked up at his overwhelmingly heroic Servant, his face slightly red. This was the kind of man he dreamed of becoming.
"Let's head back for now."
"If he has business and doesn't want to meet us yet, we shouldn't rudely force the encounter."
"Besides… we probably couldn't catch him anyway."
"We'll use that world map we bought from the bookstore earlier to decide our next conquest!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Iskandar threw his head back and laughed boldly.
Being surpassed in mobility by a mysterious Servant he hadn't even met yet didn't bother him in the slightest.
"Alright…"
"Haha… ha…"
Waver awkwardly laughed along while sitting on the ground, having shifted from his kneeling position.
He had no idea what exactly his Servant was getting so fired up about.
Still… this mansion needs investigating as well…
Waver thought to himself.
…
Germany.
Though it lay more than 9,000 kilometers away from Japan, under the extreme speed of the Bifrost's dimensional traversal, the journey took no more than the blink of an eye.
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