Why bother with the Holy Grail War? Let's play cards!

Chapter 89 Zouken Matou: The three starter families are attacking me?

"So Sakura Matou didn't show up at school today either?" Illya sat on her desk, swinging her legs.

"No." Having searched in vain, Rin Tohsaka finally came to the school, hoping to find Sakura Matou there. Unfortunately, Sakura Matou still hadn't come to school today. "And how did you get in!"

"I just walked in casually. Come to think of it, I've never been to school before. It must be fun to be with so many people my age, right?" Illya's appearance caused a stir at Homurahara Academy. How could her foreign identity and porcelain doll-like appearance not attract attention? Rin Tohsaka had to argue with the student council president, Kazunari Ryudou, for a long time before she finally managed to get Illya out and find an empty classroom to be alone with her.

Only then did Rin Tohsaka realize that Illya was a android, and her growth trajectory was completely different from that of a normal person. She couldn't help but feel a little pity for her.

But that wasn't the point. How did the Einzbern androids end up in love? Sakura hadn't had much contact with any other men besides Emiya Shirou, so how did Illya steal the man? Toosaka Rin felt like her CPU was about to explode.

"So what did Matou Shinji say?"

After forming a temporary alliance with Illya, Rin Tohsaka invaded the Matou family's magic workshop. Without a magician master to control it, Zouken Matou's defensive magic was no match for two magicians and two Heroic Spirits. Upon seeing the Matou family's Crest Insect Nest, Rin felt a pang of pain in her heart.

Words are far less powerful than what you actually see. Toosaka Rin couldn't imagine that Sakura Matou was thrown into such a place at that age. She couldn't help but think that if she had been adopted out that year, would she be able to endure such eleven years? Maybe she would have gone crazy long ago.

“Saber interrogated him…if you can call it interrogation.” Shinji Matou’s fragile psyche was unimaginable; one wonders what kind of environment he grew up in. Jason, after a slight threat, spilled everything: “That old bastard Zouken Matou, as the only senior mage in the Matou family, has been on fieldwork these past few days managing the Matou family’s sacred grounds. If nothing unexpected happens, he should be returning to Fuyuki this evening. And his destination is the Matou family’s only sacred ground in Fuyuki.”

“And Matou Sakura has obviously also been chosen as a Master.” Illya continued Rin Tohsaka’s words, unconsciously mimicking Jiang You’s habit of pacing around the classroom. “Her previous disappearance was clearly due to fear of being noticed by Matou Zouken. Her actions towards Shinji after appearing at the school clearly indicate that she has a powerful backer. Her disappearance at this point in time is obviously related to Matou Zouken’s whereabouts. So…”

"She's planning to attack Zouken Matou there!" The two simultaneously voiced their deduction.

"So, have you found out the location of the sacred site?" Now that she had found Matou Sakura's whereabouts, Illya couldn't wait any longer.

Rin was a bit worried that Illya would harm Sakura Matou due to their emotional turmoil; after all, you can't expect a magus to have moral integrity. But even with Sakura in the wrong, Rin still revealed the exact location. After all, she and Sakura were both Masters, and with Caster's magical Noble Phantasm, they weren't in a position of weakness.

"In that grove of trees southeast of our Tohsaka family, the Matou family, as magicians who settled there from elsewhere, transferred that sacred land to them from our Tohsaka family." Back then, the three families were on good terms and exchanged gifts.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Ilya urged, she had long intended to question someone about their thoughts. They had spoken so confidently back then, yet they had answered someone else's call.

At dusk, in the forest southeast of the Tousaka family.

Matou Zouken placed his hand on the huge stone engraved with defensive and spirit-gathering functions, feeling the magical power gathered in the spiritual land.

He quickly reinforced the formation, something he was very familiar with. "At this rate of increase, it seems some spiritual energy has been lost again. I'll have to make some more 'vessels' to consolidate the spiritual power."

"There's still no one to carry on the family tradition. Even this kind of thing has to be done by this old man himself." After withdrawing his hand, Zouken Matou patted his lower back, looking old and frail. "You agree, right, Sakura? Or are you here to help this old man handle the affairs of the sacred land?"

A girl wearing a purple hood walked out of the woods. After taking off her hood, Matou Sakura looked at Matou Zouken in front of her with an expressionless face.

"Disappeared for so long, only returning now? That was a Command Seal, right? Has he gotten too big for his britches after getting a Servant?" Zouken Matou chuckled, leaning on his cane. "Looks like he needs a re-education."

By pounding the crutch on the ground a few times, Zouken Matou used common sense to awaken the crest worm in Sakura Matou's body, but the magic power belonging to Zouken Matou swept over Sakura's body without any effect.

"Your magic circuits... is that right? They're no longer water-based. It seems someone helped repair your body." Zouken Matou was glad he hadn't placed the Life Worm and the fragment of the Lesser Grail into Sakura Matou's body beforehand. Someone with perfect magic circuit repair skills could easily deal with his fragile Life Worm.

"That look on your face...you want revenge, don't you? I was clearly doing this for your own good, and you're so ungrateful." Zouken Matou's centuries of experience allowed him to sense that Sakura Matou couldn't yet control her newly formed magic circuits. Her magical energy was of high quality, but poorly utilized; any unnecessary waste was clearly detected by the insects within her. "You think you can stop me here alone with some unknown Servant? How naive!"

"Let this old man teach you how to respect your elders!" Zouken Matou decided to capture Sakura Matou and modify her magic circuits again. He wondered what kind of expression she would have if she, now grown up and having seen the light of day, experienced it again.

He is fearless in the face of the unknown servant Matou Zouken hiding in the dark. Even if things get worse, with his means, he can still save his life.

"I don't think someone like you deserves to be called an elder!" The uninvited guest suddenly spoke, throwing a gem at Zouken Matou. With a burst of magical power from the gem, half of Zouken Matou's body was blasted away.

"Sakura, I'm here to help you!" Rin Tohsaka leaped into the battlefield, standing in front of Sakura Matou.

"Jewel Magic..." The body tissues that Rin Tohsaka had blown apart transformed into tiny flying insects and returned to Zouken Matou's body, restoring him to his complete human form. "It seems the Tohsaka family is going to meddle in the Matou family's affairs now."

"It's not just the Tohsaka family." Before anyone knew it, two birds made of silk threads had sandwiched Zouken Matou from the left and right, and a light bullet called Zahre (tear) pierced through Zouken Matou's head and heart.

"The Einzbern family did it too." Surrounded by several white stork knights, Ilya also stepped onto the battlefield.

Chapter 90 Jason: With the three of us working together, how could Zouken Matou be a match for us?

"Even the Einzbern family is meddling in this?" Illya's attack did not cause any real damage to Matou Zouken, but even a fool could tell that he had no chance against three mages with Servants, and he was already prepared to run away.

"Actually, I didn't really want to get involved, after all, that old man Ahad doesn't do much right." Ilya controlled the White Stork Knight to surround Zouken Matou, the light bullets ready to be fired. "But what can I do? That guy has such an overflowing sense of compassion. After following him for a while, I've been infected by him."

"Illya? What brings you here?" Matou Sakura had worked with Illya quite a bit in the timeline ten years ago, and if you really want to talk about it, it was Illya's power that killed Matou Zouken.

Upon hearing Matou Sakura's words, Tohsaka Rin's heart sank: Sakura really did know Illya, which meant that what Illya said was very likely true. She had still held onto a sliver of hope, even though Sakura was such a well-behaved girl.

"A magician's excessive compassion is not a good thing." Zouken Matou really couldn't understand why he would be attacked simultaneously by the three families who created the Holy Grail Ritual.

"You have no right to say that. The former Machiri Zorgen once said he wanted to eradicate the evil in humanity." When Ilya was with Jiang You, she had a complete battle against Zouken Matou from that timeline, and she thoroughly enjoyed watching the drama unfold. "Don't you think so, Mr. Zorgen?"

"Ah, what an ancient name... I had almost forgotten it myself. But no one knows this except me. Who told you?" Matou Zouken felt a strange sense of fear. Even though he had been hiding for over 300 years, his life story seemed to have been peeled back like an orange, revealing the fragile flesh inside.

“Of course, it’s our invincible and untrustworthy Caster!” Ilya made an inviting gesture, as if welcoming someone. This was a gesture Jiang You would make when he summoned her, and she was just imitating him.

But no one responded, and the atmosphere on the scene became a little awkward for a moment.

"Caster! What, you don't dare to come see me?" Illya raised her hand, and Minamoto no Yorimitsu appeared and charged directly towards the direction where the spirit origin was reacting. Under the swing of Dojigiri Yasutsuna, the rampant purple lightning turned swathes of trees into charcoal.

Then, a purple Servant leaped out from the shadows. This Servant had long, bright purple hair, a mask covering her eyes, and a pair of chain swords nimbly moving in her hands.

"It's Medusa!?" Jason appeared behind Rin Tohsaka and, being a fellow figure from Greek mythology, immediately recognized Rider.

"Sakura, should we attack this Servant too?" Medusa, having been attacked, crouched low, adopting a snake-like attack stance. Despite saying this, she actually had a rather good impression of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, a Servant whose physique was even taller and more voluptuous than her own.

Sakura shook her head at Medusa. From Ilya's behavior, she knew that Ilya's goal was to find Jiang You, since Jiang You's Noble Phantasm had already been activated: "Ilya must have misunderstood something. Caster is not with me."

"It's a woman!?" Ilya's mouth dropped open in surprise; this was not the result she wanted. "Caster wasn't summoned by you, so where is he!?"

"I don't know either," Matou Sakura answered honestly. She actually thought that Illya should have summoned Jiang You, so it was now unclear who Jiang You's Master was. "It should be another Master who summoned him."

"You, Caster!" Illya was even angrier. Jiang You had actually betrayed everyone he had ever been connected with and gone off to fool around with strangers. He was just as despicable as Kiritsugu Emiya, who abandoned her and adopted Shirou Emiya!

Rin Tohsaka, who overheard Illya and Sakura Matou's conversation, breathed a slight sigh of relief: it turned out that the two of them were fighting over a male Servant of the Caster class. Although she didn't know which Servant was so sought after, at least they hadn't crossed the dangerous threshold of Rin.

However, Tousaka Rin felt that she had some impression of Caster's words.

"The one you're looking for isn't a black-haired Servant named 'Jiang You', is he?"

"!"

"!"

Illya and Matou Sakura reacted simultaneously. Illya grabbed Rin Tohsaka's hand, having waited anxiously for days: "Rin Tohsaka, you've seen him, where?!"

While Matou Sakura's reaction wasn't as intense as Illya's, Rin Tohsaka still detected a hint of urgency in her eyes. "In that manor that was burned to the ground last night, I'd say it's a good thing you didn't summon Caster. Caster was not only indiscriminately slaughtering, but also turning his own Master into a battery for his own use!"

"Indiscriminate slaughter? Abuse of Master?" Illya looked puzzled. Could this Jiang You she summoned have the Alter attribute? "Who? Caster?"

“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes!” Rin Tohsaka had encountered Jiang You before, and the suitcase filled with twisted magic in Jiang You’s hand amidst the corpses littering the manor left a deep impression on her. She couldn’t imagine how Atram, trapped inside the suitcase, was alive; just thinking about it sent chills down her spine.

"That can't be right. He's the guy who saved 800,000 ordinary people. Even Kiritsugu Emiya praised him as a Servant." Illya couldn't believe that Jiang You would do such a thing, even though they had participated in the war to save the world together.

“I don’t believe Caster would do such a thing either.” Matou Sakura was even more blunt. She had seen Jiang You’s sincere smile after he resurrected 800,000 people. Someone who could easily hand over the Holy Grail to save others would definitely not do such a thing.

“Sakura, why are you here too… Alright, if you don’t believe me, you can go to that manor and take a look, and you can also go to the church to find out what’s going on. The Holy Grail War supervisor won’t favor either side.” Rin Tohsaka extended an invitation to Illya and Sakura Matou. She was also going to take Shirou Emiya to the church tonight to learn about the rules of the Holy Grail War.

"Let's talk about these things later, ladies. That old man who smells like bugs is about to escape." Jason interrupted the three of them. At this moment, Zouken Matou had released some hard-to-detect bugs to escape. If Jason hadn't been sharp-eyed, he would have succeeded.

"Time is running out, let's finish this quickly!" Rin Tohsaka hadn't slept for two days. After finding Sakura Matou, her tense nerves relaxed slightly. She was going to use her last bit of strength to kill Zouken Matou.

The three servants launched an attack under the orders of their respective masters. Zouken Matou was petrified by Medusa with an unwilling expression, and then was shattered into pieces by purple lightning.

As for Jason, he worked hard to avoid Medusa's petrifying eyes and Minamoto no Raikou's purple lightning. Let's congratulate him for surviving.

Chapter 91 Let's join forces to defeat Caster!

"Tousaka-senpai, wake up..."

When Toosaka Rin opened her eyes, she found herself in the Fuyuki Church. It was already night, and Matou Sakura was sitting next to her, using her thighs as her pillow. That was why she could sleep so peacefully.

"You're really carefree, daring to fall asleep in a place like this. Aren't you afraid of being ambushed?" Ilya was leaning against the window, her toes tapping the ground repeatedly, seemingly getting impatient.

"How did I end up here?" Rin Tohsaka was still dazed and exhausted from the long journey. She didn't react for a moment.

"Are you still half asleep? After we killed Zouken Matou, you cried and apologized to Sakura Matou. Then we all received a message from the Holy Grail War supervisor saying that someone had violated the rules of the Holy Grail War and needed to be punished. So we came here." Illya pointed to Shirou Emiya, who was waiting nearby. "Even he was brought here by Sakura Matou. Otherwise, this guy would still be waiting for you to come and get him."

"I'm fine, Rin Tohsaka, your dark circles are really bad, you should rest a bit." Shirou Emiya was being his usual nice guy.

"Thank you..." Rin Tohsaka, now fully awake, finally remembered her missing memories. She did need to rest. "I'm fine. Now is not the time to rest. At least I need to finish dealing with your and the coach's matters."

As the church's door was pushed open, the Holy Grail War Supervisor of the Fuyuki Church finally arrived at the scene.

"Rin, you still haven't changed your stubborn streak after all these years." Kirei Kotomine led a red-haired beauty into the crowd, quickly noticing Shirou Emiya's presence. "This is the ordinary person you mentioned who accidentally stumbled into the Holy Grail War? Emiya, huh..."

Bazette looked at the people in the church with a subtle expression. After a slight pause, she nodded to them and sat on the bench in a very standard posture, ready to enter combat at any time.

"Alright, now everyone is here except Assassin's Master, who is still unknown."

"Wait a minute, you mean everyone here is a participant in the Holy Grail War, even this little girl?" Shirou Emiya thought Illya was just Rin Tohsaka's friend, and he was even surprised when Sakura revealed her Command Seals in front of him. "Does the Holy Grail only choose underage people? Is it forcing little girls to fight us?"

Bazette had the same idea. She really didn't expect that she would have to compete for the Holy Grail with a group of high school students.

"Let me correct you, Emiya-sama is actually younger than me. So, let Illya introduce herself a little bit."

Illya walked up to Shirou Emiya, lifted the hem of her skirt slightly, and bowed.

"Illyasviel von Einzbern greets you as a participant in the Einzbern war. My mother is Illyasviel, and my father is—Emiya Kiritsugu!"

"What?" Shirou Emiya had never heard Kiritsugu Emiya mention having a daughter. The man always seemed to yearn to help others and become a champion of justice, and he was always very kind to him. If he had a daughter, how could he have gone ten years without showing any sign of it? Shirou believed that Kiritsugu, given his personality, would never abandon his family. "You're lying!"

"After you stole that bastard Kiritsugu Emiya, you don't even dare to acknowledge me as your older sister anymore?" Illya stared straight at Shirou Emiya. If it weren't for her special experience with Jiang You, she would have planned to dismember Shirou Emiya and turn him into a doll. After all, Shirou Emiya was her family in name only, and it would be a waste to kill him directly.

"I... didn't mean that." Judging from her appearance alone, Illya was just a little girl who was not even ten years old, and Shirou Emiya found it hard to believe.

"Whatever. You're just a wild child anyway, and Illya's mother will never approve of you." Illya already had a way to see her mother, so naturally she didn't have any obsession with Emiya Shirou.

Emiya Shirou felt somewhat uneasy, feeling restless under the gazes of everyone present. He glanced at all the contestants and made up his mind: "Father Kirei Kotomine, I am withdrawing from the Holy Grail War. I have no reason to fight with anyone else."

"It's a very clear judgment. For ordinary people caught up in this ritual, the most correct choice is to voluntarily withdraw and seek the protection of the Church." Kirei Kotomine looked at Shirou Emiya, as if trying to find someone's shadow. Then, staring into Shirou Emiya's eyes, he couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth. "You have the same long-cherished wish as your father, Kiritsugu Emiya, right? You have the so-called desire to save others."

"Do you know Kiritsugu?"

It was more than just knowing each other; Kirei Kotomine didn't give a direct response, but continued, "When you gave up the Holy Grail, did you ever think about what would happen if someone with ulterior motives obtained it?"

"...What will happen?"

"Remember the fire in Fuyuki ten years ago? That was the Holy Grail being touched by a Master unworthy of him. We don't know his wishes, but disaster struck."

"Waiting, you mean..." Shirou Emiya recalled the despair of his childhood, a scene of utter devastation and flames. He helplessly stretched out his hand towards the sky, yearning to be saved. It was at that moment that Kiritsugu Emiya reached out to him. From that moment on, he admired Kiritsugu Emiya, who constantly helped others, until he inherited Kiritsugu Emiya's ideal of becoming a champion of justice.