Starting from Ainz Ooal Gown, simultaneously traveling through time

Chapter 217 Golden Eyes: Sakura Matou VS Ryouken Matou

Matou Ryouken is a magician.

However, the word "magic" here does not refer to the tricks of turning pigeons or playing cards on stage, but to the true art of magic—the study of various mysterious phenomena, the summarization of patterns, and the artificial reproduction of these mysterious techniques.

Magic is a phenomenon that transcends common sense.

Making things that are possible or impossible under common sense happen in an uncommon way is a man-made miracle, and it is also a general term for miraculous behavior.

The Matou Dirty Inkstone has been around for nearly five hundred years.

He used magic to transform himself into something neither human nor ghost, maintaining a human appearance on the outside but no longer being human on the inside.

His body is a mimicry formed by the aggregation of countless insects, and even human functions are operated by the insects inside his body.

He has lived for so long that he has forgotten what his original purpose was in pursuing immortality.

Now, "immortality" itself, and even "eternal life," is his only goal.

He would do anything to survive.

He devours the bodies of others as "replacements" to prolong his life. In the past, one replacement could last for more than fifty years, but now he has to be replaced every few months.

The agonizing pain of his decaying body and the fear of death gradually drove him insane. In the end, only one obsession remained in his mind: "I don't want to die."

He wanted to obtain the Holy Grail, use it to make a wish, and achieve true immortality.

That wasn't the Holy Grail used by Jesus Christ in legend, but rather the Holy Grail from the "Holy Grail War," a grand ritual magic he and two friends set up many years ago.

If only he could get that—if only he could get that—unfortunately, three Holy Grail Wars have passed, and he has never won.

Matou Ryogen believes that the failures were due to the poor quality of the agent he chose.

However, the Matou family's lineage also ran into problems: the aptitude of their descendants as mages not only failed to improve, but instead continued to deteriorate.

In this generation, the boy named Shinji Matou has absolutely no talent as a magician.

Matou Ryogen felt that the possibility of winning the Holy Grail War was becoming increasingly slim.

Just then, Tokiomi Tohsaka, the head of the Tohsaka family, who had been on good terms with the Matou family for generations, brought him some wonderful news.

Tokiomi Tohsaka wanted to adopt his second daughter, Sakura Tohsaka, into the Matou family, hoping she would inherit the Matou family's magic crest.

Matou Ryogen went to see the girl and found that she had exceptional talent.

Sakura Tohsaka possesses the extremely rare [Imaginary Number] attribute, and the quantity and quality of her magic loops are exceptionally high.

Without a word, Matou Ryogen agreed to the adoption.

To be honest, if the next Holy Grail War wasn't approaching and Matou Sakura wasn't only five years old and unsuitable to participate, Matou Ryogen would have even considered having her go directly into battle.

Unfortunately, the next Holy Grail War will be sixty years later, and by then Kirito and Sakura will be too old to fight as Masters.

Therefore, he could only settle for second best by transforming Matou Sakura into an excellent "mother" so that she could give birth to offspring with better aptitude, and then have those offspring participate in the battle.

The first step was to perform human body modification on Matou Sakura, making her body compatible with the Matou family's magic crest, since he had promised Tokiomi Tohsaka that Matou Sakura would inherit the magic crest.

Just tell me how much pain and how inhumane the process of reforming people must be, and whether or not it was inherited.

Moreover, Matou Ryokon told Tohsaka Tokiomi, "After I die, let Sakura inherit the Magic Crest," but he himself didn't want to die at all, so he never intended for Matou Sakura to truly inherit it.

If Tokiomi Tohsaka knew that his daughter had not only been cruelly modified but also failed to obtain the Magic Crest, he would definitely break with the Matou family.

Unfortunately, Tokiomi Tohsaka isn't quite right in the head; he's probably still happy that his daughter can "inherit" the Matou family's magic crest.

At this moment, Matou Ryouken brought Matou Sakura to the insect cave. Sakura cried out in anguish, yet she was full of energy, which meant that she could definitely withstand the human modification.

However, just as Matou Ryouken was about to push Sakura into the insect cave, an accident occurred.

Sakura suddenly quieted down, closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes were filled with a dazzling gold.

Those eyes were vertical pupils, like a dragon, or like a god. She stared coldly at Matou Ryouken, her gaze devoid of fear or pleading, only filled with a superior indifference, looking down upon ants.

A sense of fear rose in Matou Ryogen's heart. He instinctively took a step back and cautiously asked, "Who are you?"

He concluded that the person in front of him was definitely not Sakura; it was likely a spirit possessing Sakura and controlling her body.

But he wasn't too flustered. This was his magic workshop, which he had run for hundreds of years, and the area where his power was strongest.

Even if the possessing spirit is a legendary hero, or even a fallen hero spirit, he is confident that he will not lose.

However, the owner of those golden eyes uttered only one word in a flat, emotionless tone: "Die."

In that instant, it was as if the gods had issued a decree.

Matou Ryouken's body was completely pulverized at the atomic level, turning into a pile of fine dust that fell silently to the ground.

Dead? Just like that?

No. The next second, endless insects poured out from the floor, walls, ceiling, the depths of the insect burrow, and from all directions of the cracks.

Those insects have sharp claws and teeth; they are more like ferocious beasts than insects. They are called winged blade insects and can even devour a cow in a short time, leaving not a trace.

They surged towards the girl shrouded in golden light like a black tide.

The owner of the golden eyes remained expressionless, uttering only the second word: "Fire."

In an instant, endless flames roared up.

Everything was burning: on the floor, on the walls, on the ceiling, inside the insect cave, on the swarming winged insects, and even in the air.

It was as if everything within her sight had become flammable.

boom!!!

In addition to burning, there was also an explosion.

The sudden burst of high temperature and shockwave blew the entire basement apart, and the enormous kinetic energy overturned the Matou mansion above, blasting the entire house into the sky, leaving only ruins in its place.

The raging fire continued unabated, as if it wanted to burn all the filth to ashes.

Matou Sakura, enveloped in endless flames, soared into the sky and disappeared into the night.

After an unknown amount of time, from beneath the ashes of the ruins, a group of charred insects slowly crawled out. They struggled to gather together and barely managed to form a human shape.

It was Matou Tsuriken; he was still alive.

For hundreds of years, he has dispersed his life into the bodies of countless insects, and as long as one insect survives, he will not die completely.

But at this moment, his condition was extremely bad. His whole body was charred black, and his body was drier and more hunched than before, like a charred corpse crawling out of the depths of hell. He even gave off a burnt smell of insects.

"Almost—" His voice was hoarse, tinged with anger and deep fear.

"I almost died. Who is this person? Why did they possess Sakura? Damn it—my plan has failed again."