Chapter 709: Aoi Tohsaka! The Mother of Rin and Sakura!
"Tokiomi!!"
A desperate cry shattered the elegant silence of the Tohsaka manor.
Ignoring the attempts of the apprentice priest to block her way, a woman with long, dark hair rushed into the main study. It was Aoi Tohsaka, usually the picture of a refined Yamato Nadeshiko, now disheveled and frantic.
Tokiomi Tohsaka, the head of the family, was sitting in his high-backed leather chair, gracefully swirling a glass of vintage red wine. When he saw her burst in, his brow furrowed in deep displeasure.
He slammed the glass down. "Who allowed you to enter this room?! Get out!"
"!!!"
Aoi's body trembled at his roar. The fear ingrained in her over years of cold marriage made her knees weak.
She immediately fell to the floor, kneeling on the expensive Persian rug. Tears streamed down her face.
"Tokiomi, please! Punish me however you want later, but please find Rin! Rin is gone! She ran away to find Sakura!"
"Rin?"
Tokiomi frowned slightly, his expression one of mild annoyance rather than paternal worry.
Kotomine Kirei, who had followed Aoi into the room, bowed respectfully. "Teacher, it is true. Rin is missing from her room. The bounded field was breached from the inside."
...
Tokiomi was silent for a moment. The silence was suffocating.
Then, as if recalling a disgusting memory, his lip curled into a sneer.
"If she's missing, then she's missing. She was useless anyway. The Holy Grail War is about to begin; I have no time for childish games."
Upon hearing this cold dismissal, all color drained from Aoi's face.
"Tokiomi... no... Rin is still so young! She's your daughter! How can you—"
"Shut up!!!"
Tokiomi roared, veins bulging on his forehead. The elegant mask of the aristocrat cracked, revealing pure, unadulterated hatred.
"So what?! She's not my daughter! Neither of them are! Who cares if that bastard child dies in a ditch?!"
Kotomine Kirei's usually impassive face showed a flicker of genuine surprise.
He felt as if he had just stumbled upon the darkest secret of the Tohsaka lineage.
No wonder his teacher had kept Aoi confined to the detached house ever since they got married. No wonder he treated his "heirs" with such clinical detachment.
That's right. This was a secret Tokiomi Tohsaka had hidden for many years to protect the family's reputation.
Years ago, when he married Aoi Zenjou, he was prepared to consummate the marriage and produce an heir with high-quality circuits. But the next day, he found Aoi holding two swaddled infants—Rin and Sakura.
She claimed they were her children. She claimed they just "appeared."
Tokiomi's face had turned incredibly dark that day. He felt as if a neon green hat had been placed on his head for all the world to see. Cuckolded before the marriage even began.
But as the head of a prestigious magus family, he could not bear the shame of a scandal. He swallowed the insult. He confined the three women, hiding them away.
He felt extreme physical disgust whenever he saw Aoi, refusing to even touch her.
If it weren't for the fact that these two girls had miraculously excellent Magic Circuits—one with the five elements and one with imaginary numbers—Tokiomi would have strangled them in their cribs.
They were stains. Tools to be used and discarded.
But now, the situation was different. The King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, had answered his summons. Victory was assured.
He would obtain the Holy Grail. He would reach the Root. He would become a being beyond humanity.
The need for a backup heir—or any heir—was irrelevant.
"Kirei," Tokiomi commanded, turning his back on his weeping wife. "Drive her out. Throw her onto the street. She is no longer worthy to bear the name Tohsaka. She is trash."
"Yes, Teacher."
"No! No! Rin isn't back yet! I can't leave without my daughters!"
Aoi screamed, clutching the carpet.
She knew. Deep down, she knew that Rin and Sakura had appeared mysteriously. But from the moment she held them, she loved them. They were her flesh and blood in spirit, if not in biology.
"Get out."
Kirei grabbed her arm with an iron grip and dragged her out of the mansion.
Thud.
The heavy iron gates slammed shut.
Aoi lay on the cold pavement in the rain, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Rin... Sakura..."
Both her daughters were gone. Her husband had discarded her. She had nothing.
"Who can... who can help me...?" she whispered to the darkness. "I'll give anything..."
[Do you want to be with Rin and Sakura forever?]
A voice echoed in her mind. It wasn't menacing; it was indifferent, mechanical, yet offering salvation.
Aoi stopped crying. She looked up, desperate.
"Yes! I'll do anything! Just let me be with them!"
[But you must serve the Master forever. You must belong to him, body and soul.]
"Yes! I will! No matter who you are, no matter who I have to serve, I will do it!" Aoi cried out, her eyes burning with resolve. "My body... my first time is still intact! The Master... he can have it all! Just save my girls!"
Aoi was already delusional with grief. She would sign a contract with the Devil himself.
[Good. Your wish is granted.]
Flash.
Space twisted. Aoi's figure suddenly disappeared from the street, leaving only the sound of rain.
"Hmm?"
On top of a streetlight overlooking the Tohsaka manor, a figure in golden armor materialized.
Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, squinted his crimson eyes at the spot where the woman had vanished.
"Where did that mongrel go? A spatial transfer?"
...
Meanwhile, in the Observer's Dimension.
"Alaya, is it really okay for you to do this? Kidnapping mortals?"
In the void, a glowing ball of light representing Gaia (The Will of the Planet) asked hesitantly.
Beside it, a loli figure with a smug expression put her hands on her hips. It was Alaya (The Will of Humanity).
"Gaia, you don't understand men, do you?"
"The Master didn't reprimand me for sending Rin and Sakura earlier. That means he approved. Implicit permission!"
"So we're just changing the original development of the world to better suit his tastes. It's nothing compared to him deleting timelines."
They were essentially serving the new Overlord of Reality now.
"But..."
"Oh, come on, no 'buts'! Just look!" Alaya excitedly opened a viewing screen in the void. "The Master is super intense with this mood now, isn't he?!"
Gaia rubbed her non-existent eyes and swallowed in shock.
"Such... such a great expression... Hiss! The Master is so fierce!"
On the screen, Aoi had just been teleported into Ren's private quarters in the Einzbern castle.
She wasn't alone.
Rin and Sakura—who had also been "collected" by Alaya earlier—were there. The family reunion was happening in the most unconventional way possible.
Aoi, realizing her daughters were safe, wept with joy. And then, realizing who had saved them, she fulfilled her vow.
The scene was chaotic, filled with tears, relief, and intense, overwhelming passion.
Ren was... thorough.
Gaia couldn't even imagine what she would be like if the Master directed that kind of energy toward a planet. She would probably crack in half.
Alaya raised her chin proudly. "Hmph. I understand humans very well. Concepts like 'Oyakodon' (Parent and Child Bowl) are highly rated in human culture. He loves it."
"Oh? So that's what you think of me, Alaya?"
A calm, deep voice suddenly echoed in their dimension.
"!!!"
Both of their bodies stiffened.
Poof.
In one second, they were completely naked and prostrated on the "ground" of the void in a perfect dogeza.
"I'm sorry, Master! I shouldn't have presumed your preferences! I deserve death!"
...
Back in the castle bedroom.
Ren, who was indeed busy "accepting" Aoi's gratitude, twitched his mouth.
They knelt too fast.
They were so proud and arrogant a second ago, acting like master manipulators.
He was speechless.
Alaya actually thought he was some kind of insatiable demon who needed tributes.
'Alright,' he thought, looking down at the beautiful woman beneath him. 'I can't say I hate it.'
The virgin Aoi she sent was indeed satisfying. Her "Yamato Nadeshiko" temperament, combined with the desperation to protect her daughters, created a unique flavor.
Knowing what happened to her in the original timeline—choked by Kirei, brain-damaged, living a life of misery—this was a mercy.
It would be a waste if he didn't accept her.
It also happened to fulfill her wish to be with Sakura and Rin forever. He was a benevolent god, after all.
But Alaya was getting too bold.
"I'll accept these gifts, Alaya. Rin, Sakura, and Aoi. They are mine now."
Ren's mental voice projected across dimensions.
"But don't mess around anymore. If I need anything, I'll take it myself. Don't treat me like a customer you have to upsell."
"Yes!!! Understood, Sir!"
The connection cut off.
Ren stopped talking. He focused on his actions, drowning in the warmth of the Tohsaka matriarch.
"Whew!"
Back in the void, Alaya furtively raised her head and wiped away cold sweat.
She smugly glanced at Gaia. "See? Didn't I say the Master would like it? He accepted them!"
Gaia's head was full of black lines.
'So, it wasn't you who apologized loudly just now?'
But, it must be said. She glanced at the screen one last time before closing it for privacy.
Aoi was glowing with an indescribable bliss. Rin and Sakura were safe, sleeping soundly nearby, unaware of the "transaction" ensuring their future.
The Master indeed seemed to like it very much.
'Sigh... Why didn't I think of this?' Gaia mused. 'Maybe I should find him some nature spirits...'
Meanwhile, outside the room.
Only Illya, who was playing in the snow with the Mysterious Heroine X (one of the Artoria clones), was very curious.
"Ria-oneechan, what happened? I heard strange noises."
Ria—the original Artoria—pursed her lips. She stood guard by the door, her face a mixture of embarrassment and resignation.
She had heard everything. Her heightened senses were a curse.
Moreover, her own mind was filled with the commentary of her other selves.
[Black Saber: "Hmph. He has stamina, I'll give him that."]
[Lancer Artoria: "Oh my. Aoi-san is quite vocal. I wonder if I should join?"]
Ria was very annoyed. It was not good to act out, nor was it good to explain the complexities of "Mana Transfer" to an eight-year-old Illya.
She could only vaguely say, pointing at the door.
"She... She is being taken, Illya. She is finding a new home."
"Ah?"
Illya tilted her head, hearing a word she hadn't encountered much in this context.
"Being taken? Like a princess?"
"Yes," Ria sighed, closing her eyes. "Exactly like a princess."
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