"Life comes into this world for the sake of continuation. Fungi desperately spew spores, trees stubbornly reach for the sunlight, and humans endlessly reproduce, generation after generation."
Countless bugs began to slowly cover Zouken Matou's body. The hideous appendages, reflective carapaces, and foul-smelling, sticky fluids, accompanied by squelching sounds, induced intense physical and mental discomfort.
"A human's lifespan is a mere century. Even the greatest magus cannot transcend the limits of mortality. Yet, an ordinary sea turtle can easily live to an age far beyond human reach."
Zouken Matou's figure could no longer be seen, but his voice still drifted clearly into everyone's ears.
"Maintaining a human form all this time was simply me being too greedy. At this very moment, I suddenly understand—the human body is a restraint! This fragile flesh is a shackle upon a magus!"
Countless bugs swarmed toward Zouken Matou, scrambling over each other, not hesitating even if they were crushed to pieces. Bug flesh, carapaces, and mana—the Matou family's elite magic workshop, built over generations, was sparing no effort to unleash its final reserves of power, aiming to push the patriarch who founded this lineage to new heights.
Standing over ten meters tall, dense red patterns covered the surface of his body, with abundant mana flowing through them.
It was a gigantic humanoid bug. Its hideous compound eyes and razor-sharp mandibles sent shivers down the spine, and its name was Zouken Matou.
"Holy Carnage Kabuto! Bro, your art style is completely wrong!!"
Disgusting. Once any insect was magnified to a certain extent, the immediate visual sensation it gave off was pure disgust.
Having completely discarded his human form, Zouken Matou's strength had been massively enhanced. In a clash of pure physical combat, he was actually fighting on par with a full-power Saber, even showing faint signs of suppressing her.
At this stage, Rin and Shirou couldn't intervene at all. This battle was on an entirely different level.
"Should I assist Saber? Against a target of this size, I wouldn't miss even with my eyes closed."
EMIYA materialized his bow. Red mana arrows fired in rapid succession, threading through the gaps in Saber and Zouken Matou's clash to punch several circular holes into the latter's body.
Bugs. No one knew exactly how many bugs were hidden beneath the Matou estate. These filthy creatures that loved hiding in dark corners were, at this moment, the best healing medicine for Zouken Matou.
"Tch, he regenerated instantly? It seems that to kill him, a wide-area attack is necessary."
Lowering his bow, EMIYA did not continue his assault. To unleash an attack with sufficient destructive power, he would have to project a Noble Phantasm and fire it as an arrow, which would inevitably risk catching Saber in the crossfire.
On the empty streets, the overseer of the Fifth Holy Grail War, the priest Kirei Kotomine, walked unhurriedly toward the Matou estate. "That old man has already rotted away. For someone who sought immortality by any means necessary to finally face death... it truly brings me joy."
Of course, he wasn't just here to watch the show. After so much time had passed, his intelligence network had long since uncovered Zenith's intentions.
End the Holy Grail War? That was impossible. After over two hundred years of development, the ones keeping an eye on the Holy Grail War weren't just the Three Founding Families of Fuyuki City, but also the Clock Tower far away in Europe.
The Greater Grail relied on the mana of Fuyuki City's leylines, taking sixty years to activate just once. Its power was more than enough to grant a true wish. However, the truth about the Holy Grail being corrupted was a closely guarded secret known to very few.
People always yearned to reap without sowing. Even though the Holy Grail had never truly granted anyone's wish, they would never allow someone to destroy this wishing machine.
Kirei Kotomine had two objectives. One was to witness a tragedy for the sake of his own "evil" pleasure. The other was to verify Zenith's true combat prowess.
Zenith was incredibly strong, but exactly how strong he was, and where his limits lay, remained unknown.
Kirei Kotomine disliked situations that fell out of his control. Thus, he had brought along the strongest Heroic Spirit, the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh.
Having gained a physical body during the Fourth Holy Grail War, Gilgamesh had broken free from the bonds between Master and Servant. As a king from an era where Mystery had not yet faded, the demigod Gilgamesh was virtually invincible when he got serious.
He was a candidate for a Grand Servant, an existence standing at the very pinnacle of Heroic Spirits.
If that old fossil couldn't test Zenith's limits, then he would just have to send Gilgamesh in.
Stopping in his tracks, he gazed at the battlefield from afar.
Sakura Matou—the young girl who had been freed from the Crest Worms and granted a new lease on life, reunited with her sister and accompanied by her beloved. How blissful.
The mere thought of killing her at the absolute peak of her happiness made Kirei Kotomine so excited that his brain trembled.
"Lancer, strike her down!"
The blue-haired Cu Chulainn stood on a nearby streetlamp, his crimson spear resting on his shoulder. "If you want me to do something like that, then use a Command Spell."
"Of course."
Kirei Kotomine did not refuse. Heroic Spirits naturally possessed their own convictions and pride. For an order that went against their wishes, using a Command Spell to compel them was much safer.
Other Masters had a maximum of three Command Spells and would use them with the utmost caution. But Kirei Kotomine was different. He was the moderator, the overseer, and a cheater.
Command Spells? He had an entire arm full of them.
Assassination was not suited for the Lancer class. Both the Assassin and Archer classes were much better equipped for such a task.
But Cu Chulainn was an exception.
The Noble Phantasm he wielded possessed the ability to reverse causality. It locked onto the result of "striking the target" first, and only then was the spear thrust, achieving an absolutely unavoidable hit.
A guaranteed hit dictated by the laws of causality. Unless the target possessed an incredibly high Luck parameter, it was a guaranteed one-hit kill. There was no other possibility.
A massive surge of mana coursed through the spear's shaft, radiating countless streams of crimson light.
Releasing his Noble Phantasm, Lancer leaped fiercely into the air. "I'll be taking your heart! Gáe Bolg!!"
The target was Sakura Matou. Imposing the destiny of her heart being pierced, causality was reversed. The spear transformed into a streak of crimson light, tearing through the morning glow and crossing a distance of a thousand meters to pierce Sakura's heart.
Kirei Kotomine was just about to start his "subarashii" monologue, but Zenith, with lightning-fast reflexes, tossed a Totem of Undying right into Sakura Matou's arms.
Her heart was shattered. Rushing over to feed her a Healing Potion now would definitely be too late. She would probably die before the potion even took effect.
"Thank goodness, she didn't die."
The gaping hole where her heart used to be rapidly regenerated. The Regeneration and Absorption effects granted by the activated Totem of Undying ensured that the user wouldn't get stuck in an endless loop of dying and reviving.
Sakura Matou looked completely traumatized, while Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka, who had just processed what happened, were left reeling in shock.
"Sakura, are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Zenith automatically tuned out the trio's mutual comforting and looked up at Lancer. "Looks like that old dog Kirei Kotomine is here too. Sneaking up this close without anyone noticing... did he use concealment magecraft?"
As for Kirei Kotomine, his rejoicing had failed. He was currently experiencing the agonizing frustration of being denied right at the climax.
*You again, Zenith!!*
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