That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

If there's anything about Zouken Matou that makes him deserving of death, it's probably his style of doing things, his disgusting insect manipulation techniques, and the fact that he didn't have a chance to torture Kariya or participate in the Fifth Holy Grail War.

Leaving the basement, Shinji Matou stretched, the gloom that had accumulated over the past two years since he transmigrated to this world vanished, and he exclaimed in high spirits, "Well, I guess I did do something good."

"Brother?" Matou Sakura, who was waiting at the entrance to the basement, looked at Matou Shinji, who was shouting excitedly, with a puzzled expression. Although she did not know what Matou Shinji was shouting about, she had never seen Matou Shinji so excited before.

"Have you been waiting here all this time?" Shinji Matou smiled and pinched Sakura Matou's soft little face. It was worth killing Zouken Matou to protect her.

"Yes."

"Don't worry, the summoning was successful. No one will force you to go to the basement anymore."

Sakura Matou didn't quite understand what Shinji Matou meant, but seeing Shinji Matou's bright smile, she couldn't help but feel happy too: "Yeah."

"Sakura, is there anything you want to do today?"

There's nothing in particular I want to do.

"Anything is fine."

"Then, let's go to the restaurant we went to together last time."

Shinji Matou smiled knowingly and teased, "It's hamburgers again. You little glutton, I won't help you finish them this time."

Throughout that year, Shinji Matou would take her out and often return home to eat hamburgers.

Sakura Matou, feeling uneasy, clutched the hem of her clothes and whispered, "Is it not okay?"

"Let's set off now."

"Brother, now...?"

"Yes, we should celebrate properly today."

Is there anything to be happy about?

"a lot of."

"For example?" Matou Sakura tilted her head, puzzled.

Shinji Matou joked, "For example, the Tohsaka family sent you here, so I could have such a cute little sister."

Matou Sakura smiled gently, her eyes almost squinting into crescent moons.

······

Late at night, while Sakura Matou was asleep, Shinji Matou was still preparing for the Holy Grail War, using the magical materials stored by the Matou family to create various useful tools.

Caster is the weakest class in the Holy Grail War besides Assassin. Other classes of Servants can find ways to deal with Caster, not to mention that the Three Knights have high-level Magic Resistance, making them immune to most of Caster's attack magic.

The advantage of the Caster class lies in its ability to build bases and create items. In the Fifth Holy Grail War, the teacher (Caster) used magical items created by Caster to easily defeat Saber.

Shinji Matou stared at the Command Seals on the back of his hand, using his Master's authority to check his own attributes.

Strength: D

Durability: E

Agility: C

Magic: A

Luck: B

Noble Phantasm: A+

Class Skills

[Position Construction] - A

As a magician, one can create magic workshops that are advantageous to oneself. Since this skill is rank A, one can create temples that are one rank higher than magic workshops.

【Item Creation】——EX

They can create magical items. As a legendary alchemist, having mastered the EX-level skill, they can create special crystals known as Philosopher's Stones, artificial spirits corresponding to the five elements, and androids with high judgment and multi-body co-thinking abilities, among other things.

By utilizing the spiritual veins connected to the base, it is also possible to mass-produce gems used in gem magic.

inherent skills

[High-speed chanting] - A

The ability to speed up magic incantations. A grand magic incantation can be completed in a single step. In his case, he adds gem magic (the Philosopher's Stone) to this, making it even more efficient.

【Elemental Spirit】—A+

It utilizes the abilities of artificial spirits corresponding to the five major attributes, creating magical entities based on ultra-high density condensed crystals of their respective attribute elements.

The Philosopher's Stone – A-A+

The technique of manipulating one's own refined, powerful magical crystals—or rather, photon crystals.

The attributes and skills mentioned above are basically the abilities that Shinji Matou currently possesses; the only difference is probably in his Noble Phantasm.

Von Hohenheim Paracelsus's Noble Phantasm is the "Elementalist's Demon Sword," which is the prototype of the Azoth sword, the backstab Mystic Code that Tokiomi Tohsaka gave to Kirei Kotomine. The sword is made of extremely high-density Philosopher's Stone, and its attack pattern is similar to the light cannon of Excalibur. It is itself a spirit particle calculator.

Due to the anomaly caused by the possession summon, the concept of the Noble Phantasm [Elementalist's Demon Sword] was incorporated into Shinji Matou's right eye, completing the missing Mystic Eye.

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To explain in detail, I've included the panel data from Douba (a popular streamer), otherwise some readers might not be clear on it. Since it's not officially published, this isn't considered padding the word count. Of course, this chapter will still be expanded to include about 400 words of panel ability descriptions, making this chapter a total of 2400 words.

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Substitute!

At night, on the Fuyuki Bridge, Shinji Matou stood in the middle of the river, the water churning, surrounded by a layer of transparent water vapor, with the Fuyuki Bridge above him bustling with traffic.

The Holy Grail War has not yet officially begun, and the Holy Grail system buried beneath Fuyuki City has not yet started operating.

Shinji Matou had always wondered why all the pedestrians around him would disappear when the Servants started fighting. Through his magical perception, he discovered that a mental suggestion barrier had been set up underground in Fuyuki City, and that it would quickly drive away the nearby crowds whenever the Servants started fighting at night.

Shinji Matou tossed a finely crafted Philosopher's Stone into the river and chanted a spell in German: "The form of water is at my disposal."

Ripples spread across the calm river surface, gradually forming a whirlpool. A completely transparent water elemental spirit emerged, without a fixed shape, its interior shimmering with a faint spiritual light.

Elemental spirits are artificial life forms created using natural elements at extremely high density. Different elements possess different characteristics and abilities, and they can be used as familiars.

"Although the Holy Grail War has not officially started yet, six of the seven Servants have been summoned. The remaining one should be a Berserker class, which should have been summoned by Matou Kariya."

"He summoned Caster himself. The last Master, Ryunosuke Uryuu, should summon a Berserker-class Servant, but with his magical talent, he is unlikely to be able to control a Berserker-class Servant."

"No... Before considering these issues, the priority is to find Ryunosuke Uryu."

One day has passed since Shinji Matou possessed and summoned the Servant. Tonight should be the time when the last Servant appears, and then the Holy Grail War will officially begin two days later.

During this time, Shinji Matou can do a lot of things.

Orange hair, young man, possibly wearing a purple jacket...

"Go, find Ryunosuke Uryu." Shinji Matou handed over the information about Ryunosuke Uryu to the water elemental spirit and gave the order. Time was of the essence, and Shinji Matou didn't know if his actions would yield any results.

The water elemental spirit submerged into the river and disappeared. It can move freely inside the city's water pipes to gather intelligence.

Shinji Matou looked up at the sky and muttered to himself in disappointment, "If only it were a rainy day. The abundant moisture would enhance the water elemental spirits' search abilities, making it easy to search an entire city."

Once ashore, Shinji Matou looked around and chanted a spell at high speed: "Wind, gather here."

The air gathered, transforming into an unstable, transparent form before Shinji Matou, before exploding with a deafening roar, and countless gentle breezes permeated the surrounding buildings.

Matou Shinji's eyes were glazed over.

Sure enough, it's there.

Shinji Matou's silver demonic eyes swept across the shadowy corner of the building on the shore, and he said loudly, "Come out, Assassin."

The pupils shimmered with light, and even the slightest fluctuations in magical energy could not escape the perception of the magic eye.

After a long silence, Shinji Matou said again, "You've already been discovered, and you're still shamelessly hiding there? This isn't how an Assassin should behave. Should I take matters into my own hands and drag you out?"

A shadowy figure crept out, and Assassin, clad in a black bodysuit and wearing a pale skull mask, stepped forward, asking incredulously, "Are you Caster? How did you find me?"

"Your clones are everywhere in this city, so your presence is indeed very faint. But as long as you are a follower, you will be able to sense me using the wind I create through magic."

This statement is half true and half false; the discovery of Assassin was largely thanks to the Silver Eye—the [Elemental Eye].

Caster knew his clone was lurking and gathering intelligence, and things were getting complicated.

Assassin's heart sank. He sized up the seemingly harmless little boy in front of him and became wary.

"A simple greeting shouldn't reveal any information about you." Shinji Matou smiled casually, his Mystic Eyes also observing Assassin to obtain more information about the Servant's spirit.

The spiritual composition of Servants of different classes is very different. Heroic Spirits do not have classes, while Servants have classes because they are molds created by the Holy Grail system.

“Caster, you seem to have a way to restrain me, so I’ll have to eliminate you first.” Assassin said decisively, revealing a black dagger in his right hand, and pounced on Matou Shinji with swift and agile movements.

"Shh! Shh! Shh!"

Before the man arrived, a sharp whistling sound rang out, and three short daggers transformed into arrows, shooting towards Shinji Matou's head.

Shinji Matou remained calm and composed. His Mystic Eyes had already anticipated his actions. Since Servants are spirits, the Mystic Eyes could easily see through their operating patterns and predict Assassin's actions by observing the flow of magical energy within him.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

The three short daggers were deflected by an invisible shield less than half a meter from Matou Shinji, and the intense firelight illuminated a humanoid spirit protecting Matou Shinji.

"It's Caster's trick again."

Assassin dared not be careless. While running, he twisted his hands behind his back into a strange posture, and suddenly swung them, sending all six daggers in his hands slicing through an arc.

"Oh? I've seen similar moves before, but the weapon that curves isn't a dagger, it's a bullet."

Shinji Matou smiled approvingly.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!"

Daggers were constantly being deflected, and no matter how many daggers Assassin threw or from what angle, they were easily blocked by the humanoid spirit.

The spirit, which has no physical form, reacted very strangely, and it is very likely not the type that automatically attacks.

Assassin threw the dagger not to kill the enemy, but to measure the movements of the humanoid spirit and prepare for his real killing move. When he rushed in front of Matou Shinji, his fangs were bared, and he swung the dagger from a strange angle, passing through the invisible spirit's defensive circle and aiming straight for Matou Shinji's skull.

boom!

With a loud bang, Assassin became alert, quickly retracted his attack and jumped, transforming into a gymnastics champion to dodge the deadly attack from the invisible spirit.

Why is Caster so short?!

Assassin was seething with hatred. If Matou Shinji were a little taller, the short dagger would have pierced through his skull.