An even more biting chill than three months ago—no matter how many Crest Worms Zouken Matou sent out, under that incomparably frigid cold they all turned into ice blocks, and in the end shattered into debris all over the ground.
One move to clear the field—the entire area had become a world of ice.
But among the debris scattered across the ground in front of Meruem, there wasn't a single trace of someone called Zouken Matou.
"I knew it. You were only standing in front of me with a clone. I thought you'd grown a bit bolder, but it turns out you're still a coward," Meruem said as he scanned the surroundings, confirming Zouken Matou wasn't hiding nearby.
Still, Zouken Matou had to be watching everything here from the shadows.
"I wiped out so many of your Crest Worms—aren't you heartbroken?" Meruem tried to provoke him, though even he knew it wouldn't do much.
It was dead quiet all around, except for the occasional sound of ice chunks falling to the ground and crumbling into fragments.
If you won't show yourself, then I'll force you out.
With one hand, Meruem picked Sakura up to keep her from getting hurt by what he was about to do.
Then Meruem rose into the air, hovering directly above the Matou family's old mansion.
"Titan Supernova!" If you won't come out, then I'll destroy every place you could possibly be hiding, leaving you nowhere to run.
Die, you heinous criminal who dared lay hands on a little girl!
The moment Meruem's raised right hand slammed down—
It was like a magnitude-10 earthquake: countless stretches of ground collapsed downward, while other sections thrust upward. The entire land split with multiple spiderweb-like cracks. Walls in the vicinity burst apart, floors snapped, and at first even flew upward as if under anti-gravity—then, not long after, objects began to crash back down one after another.
The Matou family's ancient mansion, weathered by countless years, turned into a heap of ruins in an instant, as if it had been flattened by a gigantic shovel. The Crest Worms hidden in the Matou basement were basically all squeezed into meat paste in the quake.
No matter how many barriers and traps the Matou estate had before, how many secrets and hidden doors—none of it mattered anymore, because everything had been destroyed.
Everything returned to calm. The Matou family, which Zouken Matou had painstakingly maintained for hundreds of years, was ruined in a single blow. But that was secondary. What truly made Zouken Matou's heart ache was the countless Crest Worms hidden in the basement. Whether intentionally or not, Meruem's "special attention" was focused exactly on that gloomy underground chamber.
Countless Crest Worms were crushed to powder under gravity and rock, never to move again.
"I'm not finished with you!" With a furious roar, countless flying insects burst out of the ruins that had once been the Matou mansion, scattering in all directions, trying to escape far away from Meruem.
Zouken Matou was trying to run.
"But do you think I'll let you get your way?" Meruem merely extended a single finger.
In the sky, countless specks of blue luminescence suddenly drifted down like rainfall, forming a striking contrast against the sunset's crimson glow. The scene was breathtakingly beautiful.
"Phosphorus gas!" At the same time, the Crest Worms flying off in every direction were each enveloped by bubble-like spheres, like soap bubbles.
Not a single one escaped.
That thin layer looked like it would pop with a poke, but for the Crest Worms trapped inside, it was utterly impossible.
"Turn to ashes! Sekishiki: Ghostly Pale Flames!" The blue luminescence falling from the sky turned out to be clusters of blue flames.
The instant the blue flames touched those phosphorus bubbles, the Crest Worms inside were burned to ash. The blue fireballs dancing across the sky were as beautiful as fireworks.
"To avoid any accidents, I'll give the Matou family a final blow." Meruem rose into the air again, intending to end it all with a Galaxian Explosion.
"Meru…" Just then, Sakura—perched on Meruem's shoulder—spoke up. "Arigato."
Her two tiny hands cupped Meruem's cheeks on both sides, and her delicate, smiling little face drew closer and closer to his.
Until it pressed in.
Fine. Zouken Matou, I'll spare you for now. The goal of healing the shadow in Sakura's heart has been achieved anyway.
Meruem, privately savoring the moment, didn't have time to think further before shifting his attention elsewhere.
Then the two of them drifted off into the distance.
No one knew how long passed. After everything had completely settled, a faint, tiny rustling sound came from the ruins again. A worm—clearly different from all the Crest Worms before—crawled out from within.
This Crest Worm, disturbingly humanlike, glared in the direction Meruem and Sakura had left, its expression full of hatred.
"Damned heroic spirit!" This was the true body of "Worm Grandpa" Zouken Matou. As long as the main body didn't die, he could rise again.
Cautious by nature, he once again survived on the back of his tenacious vitality. Unfortunately, nearly all of his Crest Worms had been wiped out. This time, he'd taken such a massive loss that for a long while, he wouldn't be able to go looking for trouble with Meruem.
"A new body… a new body. I have to find a new vessel first. That little girl from the Tohsaka family, and that damned heroic spirit—this old man will make you suffer beyond endurance. Right in front of you, I'll turn the little girl you cherish most into an RBQ and make you regret it for the rest of your life!" Zouken Matou's main body seethed with hatred to the extreme, but he had no idea that the sins he'd committed against Sakura in other parallel universes were exactly what led to today's outcome.
Even if he knew, he probably wouldn't repent.
Makiri Zolgen (Zouken Matou's original name)? Redeemed? Even if in the HF route's True End he could awaken and repent, would that be enough to forgive the sins he committed against Sakura?
Then what about the people who were hurt? Who ever considered how they felt? Eleven years! From when Sakura was handed over up to the start of the FZ plot, and only after eleven years did it reach the FSN plot—and Sakura was tormented by that damned old worm for a full eleven years, with Shinji—who never came to his senses—also involved during that time. You could say Sakura's entire life was forcibly destroyed by those two. What did Sakura end up being tortured into? Like a doll!
Zouken Matou was the root of all the Matou family's misfortune. If Shinji could still be forgiven, and dying for Sakura could count as his greatest redemption, then even death wouldn't be enough to cleanse Zouken Matou of the sins he committed.
Transparent wings suddenly sprouted from Zouken Matou's back, and he flew toward the depths of the forest.
Not long after, a man wearing a dark hood and looking thoroughly worn-down walked out from the other side of the forest.
"Destroyed… hahahahaha, destroyed? Destroyed! Destroyed!" Seeing the ruins before him, the man was stunned. He half-knelt in front of the Matou ruins, and then an expression of wild joy spread across his face. But calling it joy didn't seem right either, because tears streamed down his cheeks.
Was he crying?
"Wait… Sakura! Where's Sakura?" As if possessed, the man charged into the ruins, clawing at the wreckage with his bare hands. Even when he tore his palms open from using too much force, blood flowing freely, he didn't stop.
Yet he had no idea that behind him, a gigantic worm was slowly closing in.
"To think this old man's luck is still so good. This body may not be much, but I'll take it."
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