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

Machiri Zolgen shouted, fully understanding the difference between Zouken Matou's magic and his own. It was all a transformation designed to perpetuate life. Now, he wasn't so much a magus as a swarm of insects, a swarm of obsessions called Zouken Matou. All his lifelong efforts and pursuits had vanished, leaving only this name and the magic that perpetuated his sin.

"That's why I wanted to eradicate the evil in human nature... but I didn't expect to end up like this." Machiri Zolgen looked a little lost. "Servant, can I ask a favor of you?"

"Send me to hell, Matou Zouken. I don't want to see my soul decay any longer. Let this mistake end here!"

[Machiri Zorgen Favorability Reward [Machiri Zorgen]*1 has been sent via email, please claim it promptly]

"Leave it to me!" Jiang You nodded, resolute in his belief in continuing the storyline. "Well, it's time to end it!"

Chapter 16 Someone is stealing my home across time and space

"When this card is Special Summoned by activating the effect of [Machiri Zolgen], select an opponent's Level 2 or lower non-master Servant and gain control of it."

As the developer of the Command Spells, Machiril Zolgen's control over familiars has reached an astonishing level, and the [Marking Bug] was transferred to Jiang You's field.

"Sakura, I'm sorry, you need to bear with it for a while." Jiang You comforted her in advance because he was afraid that Sakura Matou would recall the bad past.

Seeing Matou Sakura nod slightly without him even noticing, Jiang You knew his favorability rating was stable. "Entering the battle phase, [Marking Bug] attacks [Matou Sakura]! Sakura, I need you, come to my side."

As the engraved worm was destroyed, scarlet lines exploded on Sakura Matou's body, and Sakura Matou came to Jiang You's battle area.

"This Matou Zouken isn't from your timeline, so feel free to vent your hatred here. [Matou Sakura] launches a direct attack on Matou Zouken!"

Because someone made the decision for her, Matou Sakura followed her heart, and the continuous sound of the bowstring sent several arrows into Matou Zouken's head.

Matou Zouken inkstone LP1500→LP300

"Finally, Machiri Zorgen, I leave it to you. Put an end to a future you didn't expect! [Machiri Zorgen] launches a direct attack on Matou Zouken!"

"No matter how much you refuse to admit it, I am still your future self. You will eventually become like this." Seeing his past self rejecting him like this, Matou Zouken grinned, "I was naive sometimes too."

"Matou Zouken, if I become you, I might as well end my life here." A firefly-shaped familiar condensed in the air. Upon closer inspection, the tiny sparks were each a Gandr. "Farewell, future me. This body, devoid of ideals, has no need to exist!"

Dense Gandr attacked Zouken Matou. In the explosion of magic power, the dying Zouken Matou seemed to see a white figure.

Who was it? Matou Zouken felt very familiar, but he couldn't remember who it was.

Matou Zouken LP300→LP0!

The battle was over, and Matou Zouken could no longer maintain his form. His body, composed of magical energy, was gradually crumbling. "This pain, this pain of decay, is truly unpleasant."

It seems that a lot of magic materials will be needed to resurrect him, Matou Zouken thought so, but he found that his consciousness was locked in this body.

"How...how is this possible?" Almost all of Matou Zouken's energy was now focused on preserving his life. He considered himself number one in this era when it came to survival skills, yet now dozens of his magecraft methods had completely failed. He was vaguely aware that his soul was anchored here. "No, no, Caster, I submit to you. I can dedicate hundreds of years of the Matou family's wealth to you. You want Sakura, don't you? You can take her now. Please, stop using your Noble Phantasm."

"Stupid! Even if I kill you, you're still mine!" Jiang You didn't even think about it and directly took out the corresponding answer from the DNA.

"Please, I don't want to..." Zouken Matou was still struggling, but he was no match for the large black hand. His soul was torn into the deep darkness by the large hand.

After a few breaths, the arm holding a soul crystal was handed to Jiang You.

Jiang You picked up the crystal and tossed it around, making sure it wasn't an illusion. This thing was much heavier and larger than the previous one. "It seems it does fall, and the size might be related to the amount of magic power?"

Seeing the system's notification that the large Soul Crystal could be broken down into three Soul Crystals (with a note that the total amount of the decomposition effect remained unchanged), Jiang You decisively split it into three parts.

"Is this the materialization of the soul?" The disappearing Machiri Zorgen immediately recognized it. He turned to look at Illya and smiled with a hint of loneliness. "No wonder the Einzbern family summoned this Servant. Descendant of the Winter Saint. Congratulations, you are one step closer to fulfilling your long-cherished wish."

As Machiri Zolgen disappeared, Illya came back to her senses. "Ca... Caster, what is that in your hand?"

"You're just like your mother." Under Ilya's gaze, Jiang You put away the crystal. "I'm not in a hurry to increase your favorability right now. Your Einzbern cards are probably all pretty much the same, too easy to get duplicates. I'm going to give them to someone else. I'm not sure if you'll drop 'Hercules' for me anyway, so you're at the back of the list."

"Give...give? You want to give this thing away?! Do you know the value of this thing?"

"Your reaction now is exactly the same as your husband's. Now we can be sure that he didn't bring her the wrong child."

Sakura Matou was still wondering why she didn't disappear with Machili Zorgen when she saw Jiang You walking towards her.

A crystal with a beautiful, contrasting color lay quietly in Jiang You's hand. "Take this and let me see what you drop."

Looking at the crystal in Jiang You's hand, Matou Sakura tilted her head. Although she was the nominal heir of the Matou family, she had little interest in magic. She could sense the breathtaking magical power within the crystal, but she didn't fully understand its value. She only knew that it was indeed a very important thing for a magician.

"Give it to me?" Matou Sakura spoke to Jiang You for the first time, her tone flat and without much emotion. After seeing the seemingly fierce but actually cowardly side of Matou Zouken under Jiang You's command, Matou Sakura felt a crack appear in the gloomy sky of her heart, letting down a small ray of dawn.

Sakura Matou felt a little unreal.

Seeing Jiang You nod at her, Matou Sakura accepted the crystal without hesitation.

Then, under Jiang You's expectant eyes, the air was quiet for a few seconds.

Matou Sakura: "?"

The system notification did not sound.

"It seems only characters in the current storyline can increase favorability and drop cards through items." Jiang You disappointedly canceled Matou Sakura's summons. After all, Matou Sakura wouldn't be able to maintain her status after the duel space disappeared, and seeing Matou Sakura swallow one of his rewards would raise his blood pressure. "Konami, can they design games? Is it really that difficult to disable gifting if there's no reward?"

"What are you doing!"

Seeing Jiang You casually give away the soul crystal and continue to ignore her, Ilya, who was so angry that she was about to explode, roared and pounced on Jiang You.

Jiang You casually canceled Illya's summons.

When the time comes, write a letter of complaint and ask Konami to return the items. If the design is unreasonable, we must severely criticize the official.

The player's anger came and went quickly, and Jiang You quickly adjusted his mentality.

It's time to bring Sakura out at this point in time. Jiang You began to look for Sakura Matou.

[Your reward [Yestisa Ritzreich von Einzbern] *1 has been sent via mail, please claim it promptly.] The battle reward has also arrived at this time.

……

In 2014, inside the Emiya residence.

Sakura Matou looked at the crystal in her hand, and a slight light appeared in her lifeless pupils.

Chapter 17 Please forgive me... Emiya-senpai

[From Emiya-senpai]

When Emiya Shirou saw the letter on his desk, he realized Matou Sakura had already left overnight. In it, Matou Sakura repeatedly apologized for leaving without saying goodbye, saying she had urgent matters and would be away for a while. She repeatedly urged him to stay home during the last month of the year. Then came a long list of mundane instructions, asking how long the milk in the refrigerator would expire and whether to take out the trash on time. Her words rambled like a worried old woman.

"But Sakura has always been very careful. She wouldn't make such a sudden decision to go out overnight, right?" Emiya Shirou felt a little strange, but since Sakura said so, he didn't say much.

"I hope everything goes well for Sakura. Oh, no, I forgot to prepare breakfast for Sister Ohga." Shirou Emiya rushed into the kitchen in a hurry. Let's hope he won't be late.

Let’s go back to 6 hours ago.

Matou Sakura looked at the Soul Crystal in her hand. The mere contact between her skin and the materialized magic began to nourish her magic circuits. She carefully attempted to connect with it, and instantly, a vast amount of magic filled her magic circuits. This peaceful magic began to heal the stubborn ailments within her body, and the circuits transformed by the Marking Bug gradually returned to their original state.

Sakura Matou didn't know whether it was good or bad, but the warm touch made her unwilling to let go. When she came to her senses, the soul crystal had already merged into her magic circuit. Her magic circuit with water attribute characteristics disappeared, and was replaced by a characteristic that she was not good at.

"This is bad." Sakura Matou felt very bad. According to that Caster, Zouken Matou was not dead at this moment. Zouken Matou would not allow her magic circuit to change into properties that were not suitable for the Matou family. In addition, this soul crystal was enough to drive all magicians crazy. If Zouken Matou discovered it, her end would definitely not be good.

The fear of Kirizoken has long been engraved in Sakura Matou's heart. In the past eleven years, Sakura Matou has never had the thought of resistance and has always accepted everything.

But now, after experiencing what it was like to be a Servant Card and have Caster command those arrows to shoot, the seeds of resistance have been planted and are now breaking through the ground.

A three-petal cherry blossom-shaped Command Seal appeared on her hand.

"Holy Grail War... Servants..." Matou Sakura muttered softly. A determined look gradually emerged in her usually dull eyes. "Then, defeat Grandpa one more time!"

The fear of years of oppression is indeed difficult to overcome, but Sakura Matou has made up her mind. She plans to avoid the sight of the Matou family during this time and summon her own servant.

"I'm sorry, Shirou-senpai. My grandfather asked me to come here to monitor you. But your gentleness warms me so deeply that I can't bear to see you get hurt. Please forgive me for leaving without saying goodbye." Bowing deeply to the sleeping Shirou, Matou Sakura took gentle steps, picked up her necessities, and left the Emiya residence.

The holy relic, you already have it, right?

[Matou Sakura's favorability reward has been distributed. Please check it.]

Jiang You, who was about to check the effect of [Justisia Lizleich von Einzbern], suddenly found that his email was flashing wildly.

【Matou Sakura】*2

【Book of the False Minister】*3

【Marking Bug】*3

【Imaginary Number Magic】*1

【The Founding Three Great Families】*1

Medusa Rider*1

【Sakura Dream】*1

[Matou Sakura·Black Holy Grail]*1

[Soul Crystal] *1

When Jiang You clicked on it, more than ten cards popped out, which was a great harvest.

"What the hell, is the favorability reward delayed so long?" Jiang You knew at a glance that this small half of the deck was a reward from Matou Sakura. He couldn't help but sigh that the drop rate was too high.

There were too many cards to read at once, so Jiang You decided to advance the plot first.

After all, the gray-haired adult male in front of him looked like he was about to die.

"Ugh... Ugh!" Matou Kariya vomited in pain, and the black blood mixed with several dying crested worms scattered on the ground. The crested worms in his body became agitated because of the death of Matou Zouken, and the supply of magic power became abnormally disordered.

Matou Kariya forced himself to look at Jiang You. When Matou Zouken died, a guy who looked like a Servant appeared in the Matou family. The answer was self-evident: "Matou Zouken is dead. Was it you who did it?"

Jiang You had no reason to lie to him, so he nodded.

"Hahahahaha, old man, you've finally met your end." Matou Kariya was inordinately delighted by the death of the Matou clan's patriarch. He'd become this way entirely thanks to Matou Zouken, the price he paid for rescuing Matou Sakura. He'd originally hoped to win the Holy Grail in exchange for Matou Zouken freeing Sakura, and had prepared for a life-or-death battle. He hadn't expected his wish to be granted so easily.

It’s just that the circuit that Matou Zouken forcibly constructed in his body is gradually collapsing.

[Matou Kariya's favorability rewards: [Matou Kariya]*2, [Lancelot [Berserker]]*1, [Awakened Will]*1 have been sent via email. Please claim them promptly.]

The excessive emotional fluctuations caused Matou Kariya to vomit blood again, and his breath dropped a little again.

"No, don't die. Even if you are going to die, have a dark duel with me, right?" Giving away a few cards for free increased Jiang You's favorability towards Matou Kariya, but it was very limited.

Jiang You summoned Illya for humanitarian aid. Her mother, Alice, was somewhat good at healing magic, and Illya also knew a little bit.