Comics: Starting from Killer Queen

“Uncle Kariya…”

The girl named Matou Sakura raised her head, and when she saw the bug, her eyes shrank slightly, but she still answered.

"Sorry, Sakura, I scared you."

Matou Kiriya wanted to touch Sakura, but thinking of his current state, he silently put his hand down, letting the insect drill back into his body and feeling the information coming from it.

Looking at the ugly struggling and twisted appearance of Matou Kariya, Matou Zouken's mouth curled up in a strange arc and made a creepy sound.

“How is it, Kariya? Do you think it was worthwhile to come back a year ago? I saved the daughter of the Tōsaka family before she was thrown into the worm cave. Now she is in exactly the same state as she was a year ago, and she has not entered the worm cave once. Doesn’t this prove my sincerity?”

"Then what's going on with her current condition!"

"Really, kid, have you forgotten our agreement?"

Although Matou Zouken used a friendly name for him, there was no warmth in his tone, only distortion and abnormality.

"I will not touch the daughter of the Tōsaka family, but she is still surnamed Matou after all, and she came here as the heir of the Matou family, so I still did some necessary education on her knowledge and current situation."

"However, it seems that the deep terror has had some impact on her spirit. She has shut herself off and doesn't say a word."

"You bastard!"

"You are the bastard. If you were more useful, Matou wouldn't be so embarrassed. Even if I really threw the girl into the worm hole, wouldn't you still join the war obediently? So, you know what you should do, right?"

As if in protest, Matou Zouken squeezed out a voice full of disgust from his throat. After hearing this voice, Matou Kariya's body began to make creaking and wriggling sounds, which made him kneel on the ground in pain.

"I know. I will kill that guy named Danik as soon as possible."

Matou Kariya gritted his teeth, a look of determination appearing on his face.

"You'd better know, because the moment you fail, this child will be thrown into the hive to complete the transformation that should have started a year ago."

"And before that, you won't do anything to her, and after I kill that guy, I will let Sakura leave the Matou family, right?"

"I promise."

"Well, hurry up, the berserker's relic should be ready."

In order to avoid being disturbed by unnecessary emotions, Matou Kariya hardened his heart, ignored Sakura, and walked back towards the basement workshop.

“Kareya has grown up too.”

Matou Zouken raised his head with a smile and looked at the little girl next to him who looked like a doll.

"Sakura, you have learned the self-suggestion, right? Can you activate the magic circuit normally?"

"Yes, Grandpa."

Matou Sakura replied indifferently.

"Well, although the magic power generated is not strong, considering that it is an imaginary number, it is enough to supply Caster."

He instantly formulated a vicious idea in his mind, and when he thought of Matou Kariya's expression when he arrived, Matou Zouken couldn't help but let out a wet laugh.

He was a man who kept his promise. He said he would let Sakura Matou leave Matou, and he left, and even fulfilled this condition in advance.

However, he never said that he would give Matou Sakura to Toosaka after he left, right?

Although he needs the power of Matou Kariya, Matou Zouken believes that he has the responsibility to punish his descendants who have such childish ideas and think they are kind.

"Come out with grandpa in a couple of days," Matou Zouken pretended to be a kind grandfather and said kindly, "Take Sakura to meet a new friend, and from now on, he will be responsible for everything for you."

Having said that, Matou Zouken looked at Matou Sakura's white and lovely hands and sneered.

"Grandpa can guarantee that the creature will like you very much. But when the time comes, you may regret why you didn't take the initiative to jump into the insect nest."

Chapter 22: The Einzbern Mutation

The holy relics found in Cornwall have been delivered.

Early this morning, the android maid informed Kiritsugu Emiya of the news, so he quickly rushed to the most magnificent and darkest place in Einzbern, the chapel.

Although religion still had a great influence when Einzbern was born, as a pure magus family, this was not a place to praise God's grace or find peace of mind, but a room for rituals.

Therefore, what is depicted on the stained glass of the chapel is naturally the thousand-year history of Einzbern.

They are the oldest of the three great families and also the one with the purest wishes.

If it weren't for the changes in the times and the fruitless search for miracles, they would probably still be following the lifestyle that they had been living in the frozen mountains for thousands of years.

After walking through the corridor and arriving at the center of the chapel, Kiritsugu raised his head and looked at the stained glass on the window.

The Maiden of Winter, who looks very similar to Irisviel, is on the main side, with two magicians serving beside her, and the three of them reach out to the Holy Grail in the sky together.

From the composition, we can see that Einzbern is unwilling to rely on the power of outsiders, and below this picture is a newer painting, which was built after the last Holy Grail War.

Thinking of this, Emiya Kiritsugu's eyes could not help but stern, and he recalled the unfinished conversation with Irisviel that day.

"The Holy Grail War is cursed? It's not that I don't believe you, but this matter..."

In response to Irisviel's request, although Emiya Kiritsugu was concerned about the Holy Grail, he did not lose his mind.

"I know this is hard to believe, but this is not just a lie born out of delusion."

After a brief hesitation, Irisviel's maternal love outweighed her responsibilities to her family.

“Kiritsugu, you know that the Einzbern family has continued to this day for the purpose of recreating the Third Law. However, in the long period of failure, when there is no hope at all, proving the existence of the Third Law is more like the family’s purpose than the goal of recreating the Third Law.”

Analyzing the family's tragic wish to outsiders without hesitation made Emiya Kiritsugu become serious.

"He was very anxious before, but after the last war, Great Grandfather seemed to have become a different person. He didn't care about these things at all. It was as if he had confirmed that the person who could save everything really existed, and he just needed to prove it."

"What's wrong with this?"

Emiya Kiritsugu asked doubtfully. After all, the great-grandfather had lived for two centuries. Maybe he had come into contact with the power of the Holy Grail last time, so it was not surprising that he had such a change.

"That's the problem," Irisviel sighed, "The Einzbern family was born for the Third Magic. Although we are all androids, if anyone could become our master, it would only be the Third Magician. But this is impossible because the Third Magic can only be reproduced if the Holy Grail is used successfully."

"But the previous Holy Grail Wars were all failures."

Emiya Kiritsugu said in a deep voice that this was a question of putting the cart before the horse. The great grandfather would change his obsession only if the third magician existed, but the third magician could only be born if the Holy Grail was summoned.

"You are right. He may indeed have been affected by something. However, since he still chose to participate in the Holy Grail War, there are two possibilities."

Emiya Kiritsugu concluded expressionlessly, "Either he was not deeply affected, or he was deeply affected, but this influence is inseparable from the Holy Grail."

"——So no matter what, everything will be revealed after this war begins."

The heavy footsteps coming from the other side of the corridor interrupted Kiritsugu's thoughts, and stopped him when he was about to smoke a cigarette to relieve these annoying memories.

"A way to save all mankind? Haha..."

He laughed sarcastically and memorized the pattern that was completely different from the surrounding Western style. This was the conclusion that the great grandfather came to after returning from the last war.

On the painted glass, a swirling shadow is located in the center, and three patterns with oriental ink painting style are guarding the swirling shadow.

Although he didn't know much about this style of art, Kiritsugu, who grew up as a Japanese, could still recognize the things drawn by these three ink patterns.

The scarlet Eastern dragon, the proud horse, and the loyal dog, are these three unknown things the answer to achieving salvation for all mankind?

No matter what Einzbern's conspiracy is regarding this Holy Grail War, it doesn't matter. He must use the Universal Cauldron to fulfill his long-cherished wish.

"Emiya Kiritsugu, this is the last bit of assistance that Einzbern will give you."

The old man with a white beard that looked like a frozen waterfall and a shrewd gaze staring at Emiya Kiritsugu from his sunken eye sockets walked slowly towards him, holding a charcoal-black long cabinet in both hands, followed by the silent Irisviel.

Emiya Kiritsugu subconsciously looked away. To this day, he still couldn't get used to this paranoid look.

But from this point of view, it is hard to believe that such a person would be possessed by some invisible demon.

"It's really shameful, Lord Patriarch."

"With this thing, you will definitely be able to summon the strongest heroic spirit!"

As if he had not heard Emiya Kiritsugu's humble words, Ahad, the eighth-generation head of the Einzbern clan, opened the long cabinet and revealed the holy relic inside.

It was a golden scabbard decorated with dazzling enamel, with long-lost fairy language engraved in the middle. Rather than a weapon, it looked more like a treasure or handicraft that showed one's status.

But the fact that it has shown no signs of weathering after fifteen hundred years is enough to prove its preciousness.

The scabbard of the Knight King can still be used in modern times if it is activated by his own magic power.

Ahad respectfully took out the golden scabbard from its lining, held it in his hand, and handed it to Emiya Kiritsugu.

The old man's eyes flashed with an intense light as if he was mad, and he looked at Emiya Kiritsugu with a fanatical passion that seemed to imply a curse.

"This time, we must obtain the summoning of the Holy Grail, and we must achieve the cauldron of omnipotence. Our sad wish is close at hand!"

As usual, Emiya Kiritsugu ignored these crazy words, lowered his head with a stiff face, and respectfully took the scabbard handed to him.

Without any exhortation to win, and without any obsession with the Third Magic Heavenly Grail, Irisviel looked at Ahad worriedly, and suddenly, as if she had seen something incredible, she blinked.

But neither Emiya Kiritsugu nor Ahad showed any abnormalities. Seeing this scene like a knight awarding an honor, Irisviel hesitated again and again, and swallowed the words that had already reached her mouth.

Could it be that she saw it wrong?

Although it was only a momentary illusion, she seemed to see a bright yellow shadow slowly moving from Ahad's body to the scabbard and hovering above it, like a dragon guarding its palace.

Chapter 23: Changes in the Third Holy Grail War

In a workshop guarded by androids, Danik looked around with cold eyes.

Nutrient tanks are scattered throughout the workshop like chess pieces, and one man-made person after another is quietly placed into the tank to serve as a source of magic power.

This was one of his greatest gains from founding the Thousand Worlds Tree. Although that family had fallen on hard times, their technology for making artificial humans was still very complete and outstanding. With Danic's funding, this technology was soon reproduced and would become one of his biggest trump cards in this Holy Grail War.

With Danik at the center and eleven androids assisting in the chanting, a huge amount of magical light began to shine in this workshop.

Without taking into account the consumption of androids, the magic power supplied here in a short period of time is enough for a first-class hero to fully unleash his full strength to fight with some room to spare.

With the help of the power of the workshop barrier, Danic struggled to control this huge amount of magic power, but if an outsider saw Danic at this moment, he would definitely be very surprised.

Because this color magician, who is well-known in the Western magic world, is now making the Far Eastern Rooster Seal gesture and reciting fluent and authentic Chinese.

"Open the door quickly, open the door quickly..."

Faced with this spell and foundation that was completely contrary to the common sense of magic, the huge amount of magic power naturally had no reaction. Danic's face turned dark, and he could only proceed to the next step helplessly, infusing the huge amount of magic power into the object in the center of the magic circle.

Until the magic light began to explode and completely dissipated, after using magic power far beyond the limits of his ability, he could not help but groan, and blood flowed from the corners of his mouth.

But even so, the thing at the center of the ceremony still did not react at all and looked like an ordinary stone.

"It's been sixty years, and it's still like this... I did it easily back then."

Danic's expression became more and more gloomy. Sixty years ago, during the Third Holy Grail War, with the help of the power of his heroic spirit Finn's treasure, he accidentally discovered the existence of the Greater Holy Grail and wanted to take it for himself.

But just as treasures often have guardians, when he tried to go deeper, the old monster from the Matou family appeared and fought with him several times. As a result, on the last occasion, when he was almost on the verge of victory, the Holy Grail was shattered in the melee outside.

No one had expected such a sudden accident. The souls of the Heroic Spirits returned directly to the Holy Grail, triggering the huge magical power accumulated in Fuyuki City for sixty years. In the vortex of magical power, he established an invisible connection with Matou Zouken and the Holy Grail.

Then, the two of them seemed to be possessed. Suddenly, a lot of confusing and strange knowledge appeared in their minds, and they chanted the strange spell in pure Chinese.

Then, the sixty years of magic power of the Holy Grail was exhausted, and with the help of the spell, he and Matou Zouken each obtained a strange object.

It was an octagonal rune stone, each of which was engraved with a different animal pattern. Danic had never heard of it at the time, but later, he discovered its wonderful uses.

Danic kicked away the weakened androids around him and carefully picked up the rune stone in the middle.

After years of hard study of Chinese culture, he already knew the name of this prop.

"Sheep Talisman, why won't you show me your true power!"

He held the talisman in his palm and growled angrily.

Just by carrying this talisman with you, you can protect yourself from mental attacks and stimulation and stabilize your soul.

It was precisely by relying on the power of the sheep spell and the messy knowledge left in his mind that Danic was able to make continuous progress in the study of the soul and was evaluated as having the potential for the crown.

But Dannik knew that the power of this prop was far more than that, and what he stimulated was not even a tiny bit.

During these sixty years, Danik gradually discovered the problem.

The power of this talisman is very weak. To use a metaphor, it is like a state where it has just sprouted. To stimulate its power, it requires almost special and almost infinite magic power.

Alternatively, the original owner of the amulet could provide it with magic power to stimulate and nourish the power within the amulet, just like those precious holy relics.

But even if a large amount of magic power was infused into the talisman through various means, the sheep talisman remained motionless. After all, the power of the Holy Grail could not be simply summarized by the accumulation of spiritual veins for sixty years. Its real core was not these things.

After many attempts, Danic finally came to the conclusion that it was unlikely to find the original owner of the talisman. He didn't know what kind of miracle created it. So, he could only seek help from the Holy Grail.

To do this, he must do it at all costs.

——Because he didn't have much time left, and he was too arrogant when he first got involved in the soul, so while he was extending his life by devouring other people's souls like a heroic spirit, his personality was also being worn away. If he didn't get the Holy Grail quickly, in another hundred years, his personality would probably have been diluted, and he would really become a magician named Thousand Worlds Tree.