That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

"To prevent the situation from deteriorating further, I am exercising my authority as an overseer in this extraordinary period and temporarily changing the rules. All Masters must immediately cease their fighting and focus all their efforts on annihilating the Berserker."

Kotomine Risa unbuttoned his shirt and pulled down his sleeves, revealing his arms covered in Command Seals: "For the Master who annihilates the Berserker, I will bestow upon him two additional Command Seals as a reward."

"These are the Command Seals left over by Masters who were eliminated in the history of the Holy Grail War. They should be of invaluable worth to you Masters. Obtaining Command Seals can also increase your chances of winning the Holy Grail War."

"This restriction will last until the Berserker is destroyed. If you have any objections, please raise them here."

The church was silent; no one answered.

Kotomine Risatsu nodded in satisfaction: "Very good, then this gathering is now concluded."

He wasn't talking to himself; everyone present was a Master's familiar, and they wouldn't reveal their presence.

······

In the basement of Fuyuki City, in a dimly lit room with only a retro stereo, Kotomine Risa solemnly reported: "Head of the Tohsaka family, the order to eliminate the Berserker has been issued as you instructed."

“You’ve done a good job, Father. This will surely make the Masters more interested in hunting down the unruly fox. Berserker’s Master is a thief who doesn’t know the value of the Holy Grail. And as long as a Master is eliminated, it’s a good thing for us.” Tokiomi Tohsaka made no attempt to hide his disdain and anger at Berserker’s Master when he mentioned him.

Ryunosuke Uryu's actions are simply tarnishing the Holy Grail War and challenging the prestige of the three founding families.

"With Command Seals as a reward, it goes without saying that if a Rider uses a Command Seal, the other Masters will inevitably have to take action."

“Masters who obtain Command Seals will gain a considerable advantage,” Tokiomi Tohsaka mused.

Kotomine Risuke chuckled: "Of course, so it's clear that only Archer could deliver the fatal blow to Berserker."

······

During the day, Shinji Matou sat in a restaurant in Fuyuki City eating breakfast. Food was one of the effective ways for Shinji Matou to replenish his depleted magical energy.

Empty plates were piled up on the table; an outsider might have thought a group of people were having a meal there.

Irisviel and Saber left the Matou family before dawn and went their separate ways.

It's daytime now, so there's no need to worry about being attacked by Servants.

"Just as the original plot unfolded."

One of the advantages of time travelers is the ability to foresee the future, but unfortunately, a series of unexpected events disrupted Shinji Matou's nearly year-long preparations.

While eating, Shinji Matou pondered. The Tohsaka family took the same action as in the original work. Tokiomi Tohsaka lost one of his Command Seals, which weakened his control over Archer. Tokiomi Tohsaka was also well aware that his act of using the Command Seal to "admonish" had angered the King of Heroes.

In order to stabilize the situation, he had to devise a scenario of hunting Berserker to reclaim the Command Seals.

"The reward is two Command Seals, which is somewhat unexpected."

The Matou family were the designers of the Command Seals system, and Shinji Matou knew very well what Command Seals were: pure crystals of magical energy. Each Command Seal could be refined into a Philosopher's Stone of the highest quality.

Command Seals, while only serving to restrain Servants in the hands of other Masters, have a much wider range of effects in the hands of Matou Shinji, the Caster.

Most importantly, Shinji Matou currently lacks the magical power to activate his Noble Phantasm, so his thirst for Command Seals is no less than that of Tokiomi Tohsaka.

Shinji Matou did consider targeting the Overseer, Risei Kotomine, but even if he succeeded and seized all the Command Seals, Shinji Matou would definitely become the public enemy of the Holy Grail War. Before eliminating Archer, such an act would be tantamount to suicide.

“Berserker is conceptual Jack the Ripper, much more troublesome than the original Bluebeard Gilles de Rais.” A strange smile appeared on Shinji Matou’s lips. While Jack the Ripper’s abilities were indeed difficult to deal with, in terms of compatibility, Shinji Matou could not be said to completely overwhelm him, but at least he was able to restrain Berserker.

"Berserker's Noble Phantasm only works in crowded places, so they are very likely still hiding in Fuyuki City."

Ryunosuke Uryu, a serial killer driven by hobby, had murdered more than 42 people before participating in the Holy Grail War. He has not been caught or even suspected, which shows that he is no ordinary person.

Shinji Matou's assessment of Ryunosuke Uryu was that he and Kirei Kotomine would definitely become good friends, and that his inherent wickedness was the same as Kirei Kotomine's.

起源

Ryunosuke Uryu's origins have not yet been awakened; undoubtedly, his pursuit of death is the process by which he gradually comes to understand his own origins.

If nothing unexpected happens, he will continue killing until one day he reaches his end.

"This kind of character design should be very popular with chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) teenagers," Shinji Matou thought. Similar character designs are not uncommon in the game and film industries, such as the Joker in Batman.

Shinji Matou disliked this kind of person. Although he was a transmigrator, no one ever treated him as superior, and he always maintained a neutral and kind stance in principle.

As the saying goes, when a person is killed, they die.

“Ryunosuke Uryu is a criminal genius. Berserkers possess complete rationality, and they must hide in bustling cities, conceal their tracks, and hunt humans at the same time.”

"Thinking about it that way, their best hiding place should still be the sewers."

"Considering Assassin's abilities, he must have found Uryu Ryunosuke's trail before I did."

"Assassin has no chance of defeating Berserker, and Archer is even less likely to go to places like the sewers. The current situation is in our favor."

After leaving the restaurant, Shinji Matou went directly to the central system of the Fuyuki City sewers.

Although it was daytime, fighting in a deserted area like the sewers did not violate the rules of the Holy Grail War.

"The form of water grants it intelligence and the ability to seek out enemies."

As he chanted the incantation, the water elemental spirits sank into the sewage, spreading their spiritual light, with Shinji Matou following behind.

Chapter 45 The Art of Death

The sewers reeked of a pungent stench, and there was no light. The only thing that offered Shinji Matou some comfort was that the space was relatively spacious.

The sewers, large enough to accommodate tanks, were dark and silent. The safety lights on both sides of the road emitted a faint glow. Shinji Matou could clearly hear his own footsteps. His Mystic Eyes glowed, piercing through the darkness and peering into the depths of the sewers.

Shinji Matou stopped and looked down at the ground. There were clear footprints on the still-damp mud. He muttered, "The number of footprints indicates there are three people. Judging from the size, one is an adult and the other two are children. It seems we've found the right place."

As they continued forward, water seeped from the cracks in the wall, and the spiritual light contained within it contacted Shinji Matou's right hand, transmitting information.

The water elemental spirit has located the slaughterhouse of Ryunosuke Uryuu and confirmed that Ryunosuke Uryuu is inside.

"Sure enough, it's in the water storage room. This sewer is the only way to get to the water storage room."

"Spirit of the earth, give your instructions, place it with heavy pressure." Shinji Matou chanted the incantation, setting up a magical trap on the spot. Anyone who passed by would trigger it, causing an instantaneous loss of gravity. Afterward, spears made of concrete would pierce out from all around, and anyone who was not a Servant would die upon touching them.

The traps were primarily designed to prevent Assassin and Ryunosuke Uryu from escaping.

After walking for another ten minutes or so, Shinji Matou emerged from the sewers into a spacious underground building. His Mystic Eyes, equipped with night vision, allowed him to clearly see more than a dozen thick stone pillars standing in the building. The ground was littered with corpses, their remains and blood covering the ground, and the stench of decay filled the air.

No, it is not simply a collection of corpses, nor is it simply a pile of corpses. The age, gender, clothing, and all other factors of the corpses create a unique impression. Each corpse is like a painter's paint, outlining, diluting, and intensifying stroke by stroke, using blood as the blank canvas to create the art called death.

The meaning of life and the body is dissected in this exquisite artistic construction.

Worthless, fitting the concept of death.

Here, Shinji Matou could feel a sense of spiritual alienation. It was because Shinji Matou had awakened his origin and was doing his best to suppress his soul impulses that he was moved by the scene before him.

On those stone pillars, so thick that it would take several people to encircle them, lay the corpses of children, their blood dripping from them. Shinji Matou could read the meaning in these corpses; they were like unfinished paint.

Shinji Matou's face remained calm and composed. He had already mentally prepared himself for what kind of hellish scene he would see before he arrived at the sewers. It was calmer and angrier than he had imagined. It was as if something was rushing out of his body, sinking into his spirit, and driving Shinji Matou to want to do something.

It's very similar; the scene before me is like the little man in the bottle, Holmes, who shows contempt for humanity and the meaning of life.

Shinji Matou didn't want to think about such complicated things; all he wanted to do was express the anger that any normal person would feel upon seeing this scene.

A slender figure emerged from behind a stone pillar. He was an orange-haired youth dressed in slightly flamboyant clothes—a white shirt and a purple jacket. By ordinary standards of beauty, his appearance was that of a delicate and handsome man.

The young man's hands were stained with blood, and he held a sharp scalpel in one hand. His eyes were calm but slightly sickly.

Ryunosuke Amusei, the serial killer of Fuyuki City.

Upon seeing Shinji Matou, Ryunosuke Uryu exclaimed curiously, "That's strange. I don't remember inviting a guest like you. Are you lost? It's really strange to get lost in a place like this."

Shinji Matou's body is that of a child, which puts him right within Ryunosuke Uryu's hunting range.

Without any unnecessary words, Shinji Matou pointed in the direction of Ryunosuke Uryu and chanted the incantation at high speed, completing the chanting ritual required for the grand magic in less than a second.

Inherent skill [High-speed chanting]: The ability to speed up magic chanting. The chanting of a great magic spell can be completed in one step. This is further enhanced by the addition of gem magic (philosopher's stone) to make it even more efficient.

This was a unique skill possessed only by magicians of the Age of Gods and a very small number of top magicians; it has been lost in the present day.

The air surged, and magic compressed the atmosphere to form invisible cones of wind that roared away like cannonballs.

Even an elephant would be completely obliterated if struck by this great magic trick.

boom!boom!

The wind cone seemed to have struck an invisible wall, the gale bursting out, and the aftershocks of the disintegrating wind cone struck the reinforced concrete pillars, directly causing a network of cracks.

Ryunosuke Uryu stood there blankly, not knowing what had happened.

However, in Shinji Matou's Mystic Eyes, the watch he wore on his right hand exuded a unique Servant aura.

The concept of Jack the Ripper is not fixed; it can be anything that is considered to be Jack the Ripper.

Demons, curses, doctors, police officers, and so on.

Ryunosuke Uryuu hurriedly looked around at the corpses blown away by the magic's aftershocks and shouted angrily, "What the hell did you do? This is the art of death that I painstakingly pieced together!"

Shinji Matou stared intently at Ryunosuke Uryu's watch, saying indifferently, "If you want to understand the art of death, you shouldn't use others as material. Only when you experience death yourself will you truly understand what you are pursuing."

Ryunosuke Amusei was stunned, then looked at Shinji Matou with tears in his eyes: "Eh... Do you think like me? I used to have the same thoughts as you, but if I die, everything will be over. If I fail, there's no chance to start over. So I wanted to use someone else to prove me... Senpai... What did you just say? Okay, okay, I understand."

Shinji Matou watched Ryunosuke Uryu talk to his watch.

Senior? You mean Jack the Ripper, right? As a serial killer, he was indeed Ryunosuke Uryu's senior.

With a surge of magical energy, Berserker revealed its form to Shinji Matou: a white-haired little girl who looked about the same age as Shinji, her body wrapped in a black cloak, her bandaged hands each holding a dagger, her expressionless face, and her amber eyes showing no emotion whatsoever.

Jack the Ripper is not a collection of the vengeful spirits of the abandoned baby in FGO; it merely borrows her appearance because it feels more at ease as it is closer to the real Jack the Ripper.

Berserker calmly said in a childish voice, "Master, please prepare to escape."

"Huh? You mean he's our enemy?"

"Yes, he is an enemy that even I am not confident in dealing with."

Chapter 46 Was this also part of your plan?

Berserker stared at Matou Shinji before him, sensing a tremendous threat emanating from that young body.

They are incompatible.

Shinji Matou's class is Caster, his gender is male, the time is daytime, the location is not London, and there is no fog, thus fulfilling all the conditions that are unfavorable to Berserker.

Shinji Matou strode leisurely toward Berserker.

"What does he want to do? Is he trying to fight Berserker in close combat when he's clearly a Caster?" The doubt lingered in Berserker's mind for less than a moment. It had more faith in its own abilities than in the actions of its enemy.

Neither side was a knight, and neither had any sense of honor. This was not a battle, but a slaughter.

Berserker's petite body vanished from its spot in an instant, reappearing in Matou Shinji's right blind spot, her two broadswords crossed into a death scythe, ready to sever Matou Shinji's head.