I, Wang Ha, the Three Red Unparalleled Assassin

Chapter Six: Five Hundred Years of Perseverance

"Heroic Spirit?! This, this is a Heroic Spirit!?"

Zouken Matou stared at the profile of the old man of the mountain before him, his expression changing noticeably with surprise.

"The little girl from the Tohsaka family is truly amazing. Not only can she create new magic circuits out of thin air, but she can also summon Heroic Spirits out of thin air?! This is absolutely incredible!!"

Zouken Matou was very excited at this moment. He now had an extra Servant, and when the Holy Grail War arrived in a few days, he could obtain another Servant through the means of the three starter families.

In that case, the Matou family would have two Servants, greatly increasing their chances of obtaining the Holy Grail. If they were to summon a powerful Servant, it would be difficult for them not to win!

The old man of the mountain looked at Matou Sakura, whose eyes were brimming with tears. The little purple-haired girl was clinging to his leg, pleading pitifully, her small hands tightly gripping his armor and leg armor and shaking them back and forth.

What did this little guy just call me?

grandfather!?

As an elderly man, the old man of the mountain felt a slight sense of unease when he suddenly heard this unfamiliar title. His heart, which had been calm for a long time, was filled with a strange feeling.

From being an ordinary teenager to the memories of his three lifetimes after his unexpected time travel, his mind went through them in a flash.

As the ruler of death, the Lich King, and the old man of the mountain, he has never known kinship; all he has known is endless killing, scheming, and deceit.

boom!

The old man of the mountain released the large shield in his hand and stuck it into the ground. He placed his hand on Matou Sakura's small head and patted it. His deep voice, which carried a hint of soothing, rang out.

"Contractor, do not panic. There is no one in this world, nor is there any, that can break through this greatsword and shield and harm my contractor."

Sakura Matou's trembling body gradually calmed down, and the patting on the head gave her a long-lost sense of peace, which stopped the little girl from crying.

"Yes, Sakura believes in Grandpa!"

As they spoke, the ghostly blue flames emanated from the Mountain Elder, scorching away most of the basement with the incense burners, and the swarm of insects was instantly reduced to ashes.

Sakura Matou, who was kneeling on the ground, tried to stand up, but suddenly felt a piercing pain in her legs.

She looked down and saw that her once fair legs were now covered in blood and slime, and she could even see the mark worms that had burrowed into her body and were swimming freely under her skin.

The girl, who had initially felt at ease, panicked again. Not knowing what to do, she could only turn to King Hassan for help.

The old man standing next to Matou Sakura noticed her unusual behavior and quickly understood her situation.

Because her contact with the Crest Bugs was relatively short, Matou Sakura has not yet suffered irreparable harm, but she has been left with a deep psychological scar.

The old man of the mountain took out a bottle of blood-red potion from his waist and handed it to Matou Sakura. Sakura took it and blinked at King Hassan, somewhat puzzled.

"This is a healing medicine; you'll be fine after drinking it."

Having received the tip, Matou Sakura immediately took action. After drinking a bottle of intermediate VIP healing potion from the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the small wounds on her legs began to heal at a visible speed.

According to the game's setting, this potion also has the effect of removing abnormal physical conditions.

Therefore, even the Crest Worms that had burrowed into Matou Sakura's body were killed and expelled during this process.

"Hehehehe—you guys are really underestimating me, aren't you?"

Zouken Matou had come to his senses when the large number of the engraved insects were burned, but he did not stop Sakura Matou's actions.

In the old bug’s view, none of this would escape his control in the end. He thought that everything would be fine just because he summoned a heroic spirit?

They really underestimated themselves, this great magician who'd been hiding for almost five hundred years!

Upon hearing the sound, the old man of the mountain looked toward Zouken Matou, who was wearing a kimono in a combination of light blue and dark gray and holding a wooden cane.

This was a bald man with limbs as thin as a mummy, a sharp glint in his deep-set eyes, a hunchback and short stature, an oddball whose appearance and behavior were unlike anything else.

That's true. No normal person would do something as heinous and inhumane as feeding a cute, soft little girl with insects.

It was obvious that the person in front of me was completely rotten, both inside and out, from body to soul.

"Are you the wicked one who intends to harm my contractor?"

As the old man of the mountain spoke, a hint of red light appeared in the eye sockets of his skull mask, which were emitting blue light.

"Oh?"

Zouken Matou chuckled wickedly upon hearing this.

"Heroic Spirit, I suggest you give up your contract with my granddaughter and accept my modification."

When questioned by the old man of the mountain, Zouken Matou discovered that this Heroic Spirit's self-awareness seemed a bit too strong, so he prepared to subdue him by force and transform him into a Shadow Servant who could be driven at will.

"You should know that this is my home turf. Here, I am no weaker than a mere heroic spirit!"

The old man of the mountain was stunned for a moment. He couldn't even remember how many years it had been since anyone had dared to utter such arrogant words in front of him.

"Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!"

The melodious sound of evening bells echoed in the ears of the Mountain Elder, and in an instant, King Hassan's aura underwent a dramatic change. A thin layer of gray deathly aura permeated the basement, bringing with it the atmosphere of the underworld.

"Listen carefully, the evening bell has revealed your name."

From the moment Zouken Matou revealed his intentions, his fate in the face of the Old Man of the Mountain was sealed and could not be changed.

"Matou Zouken? No, Machiri Zoggen?"

Zouken Matou froze in place, his pupils widening in their sockets as a sense of death washed over him—precisely what he feared most.

"How...how do you know that name!?"

However, the old man of the mountain did not respond to the question. The Grim Reaper, wielding a greatsword, walked slowly but steadily toward him.

"Buzz buzz buzz—"

In the rush, Zouken Matou manipulated the insects in the basement to condense into a storm that swept towards King Hassan. The densely packed insects, driven by the insect manipulator, launched a desperate, self-sacrificing attack.

If an ordinary heroic spirit were to face a terrifying swarm of insects, it would indeed be overwhelmed by their numbers, exhausted from being outnumbered, and ultimately suffer a crushing defeat.

However, Zouken Matou clearly miscalculated. Although the Old Man of the Mountain was not well-known because he never responded to the Holy Grail's call, that did not mean he was weak.

The Mountain Elder's eyes, glowing with a scarlet light, glared, and before the swarm of insects could even touch King Hassan's armor, they crumbled to pieces, perishing in the death aura and ghostly fire.

"Hmph! What has the obsession with immortality ultimately led to? The decay of the soul and the demise of ideals?"

The old man's deep voice echoed in the empty basement, his questioning words piercing Matou Zouken's heart like a sharp sword, and also bringing back some long-forgotten memories.

"You, how do you know this!? I, I'm..."

Five hundred years ago, there was a young magician named Machiri Zorgen.

He dreamed of becoming a champion of justice and harbored a grand ambition that was utterly impossible to achieve—to exterminate all evil.

In other words, it is to eradicate the 'sins' that humanity harbors.

Machiri Zorgen devoted most of his life to this endeavor, but as time went on, he felt increasingly distant from achieving this great feat, feeling extremely unwilling yet helpless.

After extensive research and verification, Machiri Zorgen concluded that only by reaching the root cause could he realize his ambitions and truly save all of humanity.

Three hundred years ago, for the sake of his impossible ideal, Machiri Zolgen arrived at the artificial mansion built by the disciples of the Third Mage—'Einzbern'.

He, along with the "Disciple of the Second Magician" Eito Tohsaka and the "Winter Saintess" Justessa Risleich von Einzbern, for their own reasons, agreed to create a ritual called the "Heaven's Cup" in Fuyuki City.

Therefore, the Einzbern, Tohsaka, and Matou are known as the 'founding three families'.

The Holy Grail War can only be held once every sixty years because it requires the accumulation of magical energy. The first three rituals all failed for various reasons.

However, Machiri Zorgen was on the verge of death. He hated his increasingly rotting soul and decaying body, yet he did not want to die without accomplishing anything. Over time, this became an obsession.

In order to welcome the day when he would retrieve the Holy Grail, Machiri Zorgane transformed himself into an insect and parasitized others to prolong his life.

The long passage of time corrupted the man's soul, causing him to eventually fall into an abyss of depravity.

His desire for the Holy Grail shifted from accomplishing great deeds to seeking immortality; that grand ideal had clearly vanished from the spirit of the Machiavellian family.

From a pioneer who voluntarily sacrificed himself to save the world, to a monstrous creature that devours the lives of the innocent, it was a tragic life, but one that is not worthy of pity.

The old man of the mountain slowly approached Matou Zouken. The terror of facing the Lord of Death caused the insects to instinctively hibernate, and Matou Zouken lost control of his body as a result.

A blood-stained, jet-black greatsword was raised, wreathed in ghostly flames that could burn the soul. The evening bells rang out more urgently, and snow-white feathers drifted down from mid-air.

"Fool—hand over your head!"

Chapter Seven: The Beginning of the Oath

Zouken Matou is dead.

Although his body is entirely composed of worms, it can regenerate indefinitely as long as the soul within the brain worm remains intact.

However, he still died from a single blow by the old man of the mountain.

The evening bells that echoed in the air were aimed from the very beginning at Zouken Matou's decaying soul, not his body.

Moreover, with the old man of the mountain's extensive experience, which is so rich that it can be called an encyclopedia, how could he not see through Matou Zouken's true nature at a glance?

Moreover, King Hassan knew all too well the characteristics of such alien species.

Because in the distant past, he had forty companions who were various alien species and a huge guild composed of alien species.

To be honest, Zouken Matou's insect cellar really reminded the old man of the mountain of the room of the Terrifying Lord on the second floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the place known as the 'worst stronghold'.

"Grandpa Mountain Man..."

Sakura Matou's call pulled King Hassan out of his memories, and he looked at the small girl who had moved to his side.

"What is it, contractor?"

"What should we do next?"

Sakura Matou's tone was full of uncertainty about the future. She was originally just a carefree little girl who could act spoiled with her mother and sister, but in the past few days, she has encountered one major change after another.

First, he was adopted into the Matou family by his father, Tokiomi Tohsaka, and then he was thrown into the insect cellar by Zouken Matou.

If it weren't for her strong will, young Matou Sakura would probably have suffered a mental breakdown and become withdrawn long ago.

"How much do you, Contractor, know about the Holy Grail War?"

Although the old man of the mountain acknowledged Matou Sakura's qualifications as his Master, he had doubts about whether she was capable of shouldering this heavy responsibility, after all, she was only a six-year-old child.

Sakura Matou raised her right hand, and a beautiful crimson tattoo had appeared on the back of her smooth little hand at some point—a greatsword with wings.

"Although I don't know what's going on, it seems like a lot of things have appeared in my head. It should be the Holy Grail War that Grandpa talked about, and I seem to have heard similar words in my old home before."

"Oh? Humanity's self-control has even handled this kind of thing? It seems I was overthinking it."

The old man of the mountain nodded knowingly, and finally asked: