My transformation into a beautiful girl started with a hemorrhage.

The Holy Grail is like that, and so is this beautiful and pure goddess before me.

Knowing her real name will reveal her divine duties, abilities, personality, and weaknesses.

Zouken Matou was deceived by the sacred and pure aura emanating from Kei, believing that Kei was a deity in the good camp, with a very good personality and temperament. Moreover, Kei's female identity made him firmly believe this, which is why he dared to boldly test her.

Although Hui's current quiet and silent demeanor does give people that impression.

"I do want the Holy Grail, but... what does that have to do with you? You're a malevolent being." As Hui finished speaking, a murderous glint flashed in her eyes.

'I've been wanting to test the magician's soul for a long time, and since you've delivered yourself right to my doorstep, well then...'

Die!

In an instant, the demonic power eroded by the ethereal divinity within Hui's body began to surge, rushing towards Matou Zouken with lightning speed.

According to this world's understanding, this is no longer magic, but divine power.

The half-baked magician, Kariya Matou, only noticed that a draft had risen in the basement, even though there were no windows.

Meanwhile, Zouken Matou's pupils contracted sharply. He hadn't expected Kei to make a move so directly, and a sense of impending death washed over him.

At that moment, he realized he was wrong; the deity before him was definitely an evil god.

The divine power surging from Hui's body was, in his eyes, a raging fire, a real fire, because... his insect-like body was already feeling the burning pain. If that were all, it wouldn't be a big deal.

Anyway, he can have as many of these insect-made bodies as he wants.

What terrified him was that a large part of the soul within this body had disappeared without him even realizing it.

'What kind of attack is this? It annihilates the soul directly?!'

This bizarre way of attacking the soul is simply his nemesis.

He had lingered on for five hundred years, and his soul was already rotten and decayed. Although this clone's soul was not much, it was still something he could not afford to consume.

"What do you want to do?"

Realizing what was happening, he immediately transformed into countless Mark Insects and swarmed towards the dark corner of the basement.

"So weak? And... this is the taste?! I want to run away, but can I even escape?"

Hui licked her lips. For the first time, she realized that the difference between souls was greater than the difference between a human and a paramecium.

The ethereal divine power emanating from Hui's body was like a burning flame, flowing directly and accurately into the dense stream of insects, targeting the only imprinted insect carrying a soul.

"Ah~!" The inconspicuous Mark Insect let out a shrill scream before turning to ashes.

This is a new capability that Hui discovered.

After the ethereal divinity eroded her magic, she no longer needed to wait until someone was dead to devour their soul, as she had done before.

Rather, it can devour the soul as long as the magic can touch the target.

She just took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on Zouken Matou, "eating" a bit of the magician's soul.

Hui had devoured so many souls in the past—good, bad, kind, violent, opportunistic, hypocritical, sincere… all sorts of people from all walks of life. But to Hui, their souls all felt the same, like tasteless plain water.

Therefore, Hui thought that the soul had no flavor.

But now Hui realizes that she was completely wrong.

The soul has a flavor. The feeling I got from that magician's soul was like drinking a fine wine. Although the only drawback was that the wine tasted a bit spoiled, it was still far more delicious than plain water!

'Hmm, the soul actually has a taste, no, I can actually feel the taste of the soul, hehe, really... becoming more and more like a demon.' Hui thought to herself with a self-deprecating smile.

Matou Kariya, standing to the side, stared blankly at everything with his only remaining right eye as the Crest Worms gnawed at his flesh and blood, merging into his nerves.

After a year of torment, the nerves in his left side were almost paralyzed, making it nearly impossible for him to move his left leg and arm. His left eye lost all vision, and the muscles around his eye were completely paralyzed. At only twenty-something years old, his hair had turned completely white, and his skin had lost all color, turning into a ghostly gray.

Kariya Matou had no idea what had just happened.

However, he could still make out the general idea.

In his eyes, his father, the incredibly mysterious, powerful, and eerie Zouken Matou, was utterly defeated in front of this Heroic Spirit!

The cocoon of fear he had always harbored towards Zouken Matou had cracked open.

"What you just did—"

"Ugh!"

As Matou Kariya was speaking, he suddenly covered his mouth. His throat throbbed, and a stream of blood mixed with a disgusting worm gushed out of his mouth, landing on the ground. The worm could be clearly seen rolling and wriggling in the pool of blood.

"Hey, what did you say? Seriously, are you about to die?"

Hui didn't find the scene in front of her disgusting. She had seen many human internal organs, tissues, and bloody things, and had long since become immune to them.

Now it's just worms growing on his body; just think of it as a half-rotten corpse with maggots growing on it.

However, at the same time, Hui felt that the magic power that was being transmitted from this guy to maintain her physical form was intermittent.

Thinking that the Holy Grail descent ritual was not yet complete, and that he didn't know where to find a Master if this guy died, the divinity within Hui began to devour the faint magical energy floating in the air to maintain its physical form and relieve the pressure on Matou Kariya.

"Die, hehe~, I won't die until my wish is fulfilled, until that man is punished!" Matou Kariya's right eye, which still had vision, held both tenderness and hatred.

"That's good. I have to leave for a bit. Don't die first." After saying that, Hui transformed into a spirit form and disappeared.

······

The next day, early in the morning.

Kei has returned to the Matou family mansion.

The Holy Grail War can officially begin once the final Caster arrives.

After a night of getting acquainted with the world, Hui had a general understanding of it.

This world is also Earth, and apart from the existence of beings like magicians, everything else seems to be almost identical to our original world.

Moreover, in modern society, the mystery has faded, and magicians have gradually declined in number, and it is expected that they will disappear soon.

The morning news broadcast reports of a series of child murders, interspersed with news of a fire at Fuyuki City's largest prison, claiming hundreds of lives...

···········

Chapter 369 Status

"Uncle Kariya, are you... alright?" Matou Sakura asked Matou Kariya with concern during breakfast.

Matou Kariya forced a smile onto his almost paralyzed face, while gently rubbing Matou Sakura's head: "Sakura, don't worry, Uncle is fine."

When Hui returned, this was the scene she saw.

"Beautiful older sister." Matou Sakura was not afraid when she saw Kei appear; instead, she took the initiative to greet him.

Her voice was childish and dull; at only six or seven years old, she already possessed a maturity and sullenness that shouldn't belong to a child.

Hui, who was not originally interested in children, suddenly felt maternal instincts triggered when she saw a child like Matou Sakura because she was about to become a mother herself.

"What a good child!"

As Hui spoke, she reached out to rub Matou Sakura's head, just like Matou Kariya had done. However, when Hui's hand was halfway up the ground, she paused for a moment before continuing to rub Matou Sakura's head.

'So that's how it is. What a pitiful child!' Hui murmured.

Just as Hui's hand approached Matou Sakura, she discovered that the true form of the bald old magician from last night was inside this child, or more precisely, deep within the child's heart.

Hui didn't know what method the other party used to conceal their presence, so that she only noticed it when she got so close.

······

Meanwhile, deep within Matou Sakura's heart.

"What happened? Could it be that the Heroic Spirit discovered me? No, that's impossible. I haven't revealed any aura or magic power since I regained consciousness."

Zouken Matou's original soul had long since transformed into a Crest Worm, hiding inside Sakura's heart. Normally, it functioned entirely as a part of the heart's organs, making it impossible to detect.

Last night, after Matou Zouken's humanoid mimicry magic was completely destroyed by Kei, his true form, which was hidden in Matou Sakura's heart, began to have consciousness.

He originally planned to stay in Sakura's body until the Holy Grail War ended, since Hui's methods of destroying souls were the nemesis of a magician like him who was good at creating familiars.

······

outside.

Hui gazed at the obedient child for a while, and then, overwhelmed by maternal love, her ethereal divine power surged directly towards Ying.

But then, unexpectedly...

"Ouch~ it hurts~!" Matou Sakura suddenly clutched her chest and cried out in pain.

"Sakura, what's wrong? Are you alright?" Matou Kariya, who was standing next to her, suddenly pulled Kei away roughly and then checked Sakura in a panic.

After Hui was pulled away, the pain in Matou Sakura's heart also disappeared.

"Uncle Yanye, I'm alright now."

What happened to you just now?

"I don't know either. My chest suddenly hurt a little. It must be my imagination. Uncle, don't worry, Sakura is fine."

"Okay, Sakura, you can go out now."

"Yes, Uncle Matou," Sakura said, and then left.

After Matou Kariya dismissed the cherry blossoms, only Kei and Matou Kariya remained in the room.

He glared angrily at Hui and roared, enunciating each word clearly, "Why did you hurt her?"

Sakura Matou is his bottom line. For her, he would even risk his life to participate in the Holy Grail War. In his anger, the Command Seals on the back of his hand are already flashing red.

Hui glanced at the Command Seals on the back of Matou Kariya's hand, and stopped herself from explaining.

"Perhaps it was my magic that aroused her," Hui explained perfunctorily.

She had intended to help out of kindness, but the other party didn't appreciate it, so she naturally wouldn't meddle any further. Besides, she wasn't entirely confident that she could kill the bald old magician while ensuring the child's safety.

"I'm sorry." Hearing Hui's reply, Matou Kariya's emotions calmed down. "Sakura has always been a sensible child. I won't allow anyone to hurt her."

He understood that his anger just now was merely the rage of an incompetent person.

"It doesn't matter. I don't care about other people's opinions."

Matou Kariya: "..."

"By the way, are you really unable to kill Matou Zouken?" Matou Kariya asked hopefully.