Did the Heroic Spirit I conquered become a reality?

He paused, seemingly to whet everyone's appetite, before saying, word by word, "I'm referring to... the 'old head' of the Matou family, Matou Zouken."

"Matou Zouken?!" Upon hearing this, Tohsaka Yu's pupils suddenly contracted.

That rotten old worm? Shouldn't he already be...?

"Logically, he should be dead by now, after all, you almost destroyed most of the Crest Worms he used to sustain his life."

Merlin paused for a moment, then said quietly, "But last night at Ryudou Temple, I saw a Crest Worm from the Matou family... It has been observing you in the dark."

"When Rider first appeared, there were also Crest Worms present."

Yu Tohsaka seemed to realize something and frowned, saying, "You suspect that Rider's Master is Zouken Matou, and that he stole the Greater Grail?"

"But logically, the Matou family should only have one Master..."

"If it's done through cheating, it's not impossible to have a second master... After all, that's how Princess Morgan signed the contract with you."

“While everyone’s attention is drawn, he’ll use his unique ‘way of being’ to sneak into the core of the Greater Grail and steal the corrupted ‘wishing machine’… That seems like something he would do, right?” Merlin continued.

After listening to Merlin's analysis, Morgan's brows furrowed even more beneath his veil.

“If it really was Zouken Matou who did this, then we must find that old bug as soon as possible... and get rid of him,” Yu Tohsaka said immediately.

After all, they absolutely could not let "all the evil in this world" fall into the hands of that old bug, otherwise, he could tell with his toes what would happen.

Just then, Morgan's cold voice rang out again: "Finding Zouken Matou might not be that difficult."

A knowing glint flashed in her icy blue eyes: "Someone like him, who relies on devouring the souls and life force of others to prolong his existence, would inevitably be eager to find a safe place to 'digest' that immense power after stealing the Greater Grail. And the entire Fuyuki City is the most suitable place for a 'worm' like him to hide and recover..."

Yu Tohsaka seemed to realize something and whispered, "The Matou family's underground insect storage?"

"Now that the goal is clear, let's set off." Merlin smiled and even glanced at Tohsaka Yu with a smug look, as if to say: How about it, doesn't Merlin, the big brother, live up to the name of the strongest 'red support'?

Yu Tohsaka secretly gave him a thumbs up. Although Merlin's usual style of doing things was unpredictable, he was really capable when it came to something. This guy was someone you could get along with!

"and many more."

Just as everyone was preparing to take action, Sajou Aika's clear and melodious voice suddenly rang out.

Her smile remained innocent and sweet, but her emerald green eyes held an undeniable air as she gazed silently at Morgan Lefebvre.

“Princess Morgan,” Ayaka Sajou’s tone was gentle, yet carried a chilling pressure, “before you set off, did you…forget something?”

Morgan raised an eyebrow and calmly looked back at her: "What are you referring to, Miss Satori?"

"Of course it's Yu-kun's contract."

Sajō Aika said matter-of-factly, her possessiveness undisguised, "While I am very grateful that you 'protected' him when his contract with me was temporarily broken, now that I am back, shouldn't Miss Ruler return what doesn't belong to her to its rightful owner?"

She paused, her smile growing even brighter: "Yu-kun is my Servant. That was destined from the very beginning of the Holy Grail War."

As Yu Tohsaka listened to this familiar, highly charged conversation, his eyelids twitched involuntarily.

Why are these two circling back to this issue again?!

Upon hearing this, Morgan's red lips, hidden beneath her veil, curled into a mocking smile: "My contract with Caster is based on the principle of mutual consent, with no element of 'coercion' whatsoever. After all, if it weren't for some 'irresponsible' Master abandoning his Servant by 'faking his death,' how could he have entered into a new contract with me?"

She paused, a hint of amusement flashing in her eyes: "Or does Ms. Sajou believe that Caster should dissipate on her own due to the depletion of her magical energy after losing her Master, which is the 'reasonable' ending?"

"you--!"

Satori Ai was speechless. She knew Morgan was deliberately misinterpreting her meaning, but she couldn't directly refute him.

"Alright, alright, you two, now is not the time to argue about this!" Merlin quickly stepped in to smooth things over again, a professional, gentle smile on his face. "The most urgent matter is finding the Greater Grail and stopping Zouken Matou. As for Caster's ownership... cough, I mean the contract issue, we can discuss that after we resolve the current crisis, can't we?"

However, Aika Sajou showed no sign of backing down. Her emerald green eyes were fixed on Morgan, and her tone was icy: "Before you set off, you must break your contract with Yu-kun."

This is an undisguised threat.

Morgan's icy blue eyes narrowed slightly, and the powerful aura of a fairy queen began to slowly rise around her.

Seeing this, Yu Tohsaka sensed something was wrong and was about to speak up to dissuade him when Morgan spoke first, coldly saying in an unquestionable tone, "No matter what you say, Caster is my Servant now, and that will not change."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over Ayaka Sajou's beautiful and flawless face, and continued, "At least... I won't break the contract with Caster until I find the Greater Grail and confirm that you won't use it for any more 'interesting' experiments."

"Once I successfully find the Greater Grail and return it to Ryudou Temple... I can break my contract with Caster."

The subtext is clear: I don't trust you at all right now, you'd better behave yourself.

A more Japanese translation would be: You wouldn't want Caster to never be able to come back to you, would you?

Upon hearing this, Ayaka Sajou suddenly became furious. Everything she had ever done had gone smoothly until now, but now she had actually been defeated by this ruler in front of her.

"You'd better keep your own promise."

She gave Morgan a cold look, then got up and walked out of the coffee shop.

Morgan followed closely behind with a triumphant smirk.

Behind them, Tohsaka Yu and Merlin exchanged a glance, and the latter gave him a helpless smile: "Tohsaka-kun, there's something I'm not sure if I should say."

"Send them all, buddy, you say?" Tohsaka Yu chuckled and patted Merlin on the shoulder.

"Next time, provoke someone easier to mess with," Merlin sighed. "If this continues, the Counterforce will have no choice but to find a way to banish you from this world."

When Merlin was 'bound' to Tiamat, he already felt that it was a troublesome situation, but due to Tiamat's terrifying power, he was powerless to stop her and could only let Tohsaka Yuu do as she pleased.

But now...

Tiamat was one thing, but now we have Sajou Aika... and now Morgan Lefève has even been dragged into this.

If this continues, even the willpower to control itself will probably give way.

After all, this is practically a time bomb; no one knows when it might suddenly blow up humanity to pieces.

Upon hearing this, Yu Tohsaka couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't worry, I'm much safer now than before."

Merlin raised an eyebrow: "You're that confident?"

Yu Tohsaka simply smiled at this.

When binding a Tiamat, the Counter might consider banishing him to the Imaginary World as well, but if you add a Sajō Ayaka who could summon the Beast at any time, or even Morgan le Fay... then the Counter will have to carefully consider the pros and cons before taking action.

But then again...

Although Morgan's guess was correct, is Zouken Matou really still alive?

If I remember correctly, I killed his 'true form' as well.

But if it's not 'Old Bug'... then who could it be?

This Holy Grail War... could there be an eighth Master?

Book 1: Chapter 64 Feeding Tiamat the Holy Grail (4.5K)

As dusk settled, four figures hurried toward the Matou family's mansion, which exuded an ominous aura.

Soon, the Matou family mansion, which appeared even more eerie and dilapidated in the night, came into view.

Even during the day, the mansion exuded an unsettling aura of decay, not to mention the foul magic emanating from "all the evils of this world" that was subtly spreading from its depths, as if driving away every living being that tried to approach.

"It seems our guess was correct."

Merlin's smile faded considerably as he looked at the malice that was almost tangible within the mansion. "Zouken Matou, he may very well have really retreated to his lair and... is trying to digest that power that doesn't belong to him."

Morgan turned to look at Yu Tohsaka and asked, "Caster, you said before that you had already destroyed Zouken Matou's main body?"

Yu Tohsaka nodded: "His core Crest Worm was indeed completely purified at that time. Logically speaking, he should have already..."

But if Zouken Matou is really dead, then what exactly is in the basement of the Matou family right now? Yu Tohsaka was filled with doubt.

Sajō Aika showed no interest in the dilapidated state of the mansion or the despicable nature of Matou Zouken. She simply tilted her head slightly, her emerald green eyes gazing into the depths of the mansion, and said in a light tone, "Yu-kun, I can feel that old bug's aura right at the bottom. And... he seems to be undergoing some kind of very 'intimate' fusion with that 'Greater Grail'."

Upon hearing this, Tohsaka Yu's heart tightened, and he immediately said, "Anyway, let's go in and take a look!"

Having said that, he no longer hesitated and headed towards the entrance to the Tong family's underground insect reservoir in the middle of his memory.

The wooden door hidden in the dark corner now seemed to be stained with even more filth, emitting a nauseating stench.

Without the slightest hesitation, Yu Tohsaka kicked open the rotten wooden door.

The scene behind the door was even more appalling than when he last came.

The already dark and damp staircase was now covered by a layer of sticky black liquid, where countless Crest Worms dwelled. They seemed to have become even more ferocious and greedy because of the power of the Greater Grail, emitting a chilling hiss.

The four ignored these things and headed straight for the deepest part of the insect storage.

The deeper they went, the more concentrated the foul aura of "all the evil in this world" became, even beginning to subtly erode their spiritual foundation.

Of the three Servants present, only Tohsaka Yu was completely unaffected.

Because the "Sea of ​​Life" magic within his body, which originated from the same source as Tiamat, was now forming a pale blue barrier, isolating him from the intrusion of those foul energies.

When Ayaka Sajou sensed that pure "evil," a hint of excitement and pleasure flashed in her emerald green eyes.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the insect reservoir.

This area was originally the core area where Zouken Matou conducted various magical experiments, but now it has been completely submerged by a deeper and thicker black swamp.

The black mud churned endlessly, emanating a suffocating despair and malice, as if hell itself had descended upon this place.

In the center of that black swamp, a huge "cocoon of flesh" made up of countless twisted flesh and marking insects beat slowly like a heart, each beat emitting an even more terrifying magical fluctuation.

"That's... Zouken Matou?" Yu Tohsaka frowned as he looked at the disgusting fleshy cocoon.

Merlin's expression turned extremely solemn. "It seems he really is trying to merge with 'all the evil in this world'... or rather, he is being devoured by that power and turning into some kind of more twisted monster."

A rare hint of seriousness flashed in Morgan's icy blue eyes: "This power... has exceeded the capabilities of an ordinary Servant. If he completes the fusion, I'm afraid..."

Just then, the huge cocoon began to throb faster and faster, and the flesh on its surface began to writhe and tear violently, as if something was about to break out of the cocoon!

"It's coming out!" Yu Tohsaka immediately reminded him, the gem in his hand already beginning to flash, ready to deal with any possible emergencies.

However, to everyone's surprise—

From within that torn cocoon of flesh, the first sound to emerge was neither the roar of a monster nor the aged voice of Zouken Matou.

Instead, it was a faint, almost imperceptible, feeling, tinged with naivety and bewilderment...

"Uh... um..."

A faint voice, like that of a newborn baby.

Yu Tohsaka, Morgan, Merlin, and even Aika Sajou were stunned.

This voice... it doesn't sound like something that old monster like Zouken Matou could make.

Then, under the astonished and uncertain gazes of the crowd, the enormous cocoon of flesh completely split open, and what slowly "emerged" from it was neither the terrifying monster they had expected, nor the rotten old worm.

Instead, it was a little girl, who looked only seven or eight years old, curled up in the black mud.

She had short, silky black hair, as dark as the deepest night sky, and skin so pale it was almost transparent, as if she had never seen the sun.

The girl didn't seem fully awake yet; her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her breathing was even and weak.

If she weren't in this filthy and malicious underground insect storage of the Matou family, and if she hadn't been born from that "flesh cocoon," she would look exactly like a sleeping, ordinary, and harmless human little girl.

Yu Tohsaka, Morgan, Merlin, and even Aika Sajō, who always thrives on chaos, were all shocked and confused.

The scene before them had completely exceeded their initial expectations.

"what is happening?"

Yu Tohsaka broke the deathly silence first, his voice carrying a dryness and uncertainty that even he himself was unaware of.

He originally thought he would be facing a more powerful and twisted Zouken Matou, and had even prepared for a fierce battle.

As it turned out... what emerged from the cocoon was a little girl who looked completely helpless?

Merlin frowned, his purple eyes filled with seriousness and confusion.

He tried to use his clairvoyance to "observe" the little girl's true nature, but found that her existence was shrouded in a thick, almost "chaotic" fog, which even his magic eyes could not fully penetrate.

"There is no trace of Zouken Matou's soul on her body," Merlin said slowly, a hint of confusion in his voice. "However, the texture of the magic power within her... is undoubtedly derived from the Greater Grail, from 'all the evil of this world'."

Just as everyone was lost in thought and on high alert because of this sudden turn of events, the little girl curled up in the black mud had her long eyelashes flutter slightly once again.

Then, she slowly... opened her eyes.

Those were eyes... as black as ink, yet empty and devoid of any emotion.

When those dark, empty eyes looked over, Yu Tohsaka felt a chill run from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head.

That was not the look a child should have; it contained no childlike innocence or curiosity, only a bottomless void, and... a kind of inhuman "texture" that instinctively instilled fear.