Why fight the Holy Grail War? Let's play cards!

"So Matou Sakura didn't show up at school today?"

Illya sat on the desk, her legs dangling.

"No."

After searching for her in vain, Toosaka Rin finally came to the school, hoping to find Sakura Matou from the school, but unfortunately, Sakura Matou still did not come to the school today.

"And how did you get in here?"

"I just walked in normally. Come to think of it, I haven't been to school yet. It's nice to be around so many people your age, right?"

Illya's appearance caused a commotion at Hokunbaru Academy. How could she not attract attention with her foreign identity and porcelain doll-like appearance? Toosaka Rin had to argue with the student council president Yanagido Kazunari for a long time before she brought Illya out and found an empty classroom where she could be alone.

Only then did Rin Tohsaka realize that Illya was a android, and her growth trajectory was completely different from that of a normal person. She couldn't help but feel a little pity for her.

But that wasn't the point. How did the Einzbern androids end up in love? Sakura hadn't had much contact with any other men besides Emiya Shirou, so how did Illya steal the man? Toosaka Rin felt like her CPU was about to explode.

"So what did Matou Shinji say?"

After forming a temporary alliance with Illya, Rin Tohsaka invaded the Matou family's magic workshop. Without a magician master to control it, Zouken Matou's defensive magic was no match for two magicians and two Heroic Spirits. Upon seeing the Matou family's Crest Insect Nest, Rin felt a pang of pain in her heart.

Words are far less powerful than what you actually see. Toosaka Rin couldn't imagine that Sakura Matou was thrown into such a place at that age. She couldn't help but think that if she had been adopted out that year, would she be able to endure such eleven years? Maybe she would have gone crazy long ago.

"Saber tortured him...if that can be considered torture."

Shinji Masaki's heart is incredibly fragile; one wonders what kind of environment he grew up in. Jason, after a slight threat, spilled the beans. "That old man, Zouken Matou, the only magus in the Matou family, has been out on field work for the past two days, managing the sacred sites owned by the Matou family. If nothing goes wrong, he'll be back in Fuyuki this evening. His destination is the Matou family's only sacred site in Fuyuki."

"And Matou Sakura was obviously chosen as the Master."

Illya continued what Toosaka Rin said, and she subconsciously imitated Jiang You's habit and walked around in circles in the classroom.

"Her previous disappearance was clearly due to her fear of being noticed by Zouken Matou. Her actions towards Shinji since her appearance at the school clearly indicate she has a backer. Her disappearance at this point in time is clearly related to Zouken Matou's whereabouts. So..."

"She wants to attack Matou Zouken there!"

They both expressed their inferences at the same time.

"So, have you found out the location of the spiritual land?"

Now that she has found Sakura Matou's whereabouts, Illya can't wait any longer.

Rin was a bit worried that Illya would harm Sakura Matou due to their emotional turmoil; after all, you can't expect a magus to have moral integrity. But even with Sakura in the wrong, Rin still revealed the exact location. After all, she and Sakura were both Masters, and with Caster's magical Noble Phantasm, they weren't in a position of weakness.

"It's in the woods southeast of our Tousaka family. The Matou family, as immigrant magi, had that sacred land transferred to them by our Tousaka family."

Back then, the three royal families were on good terms and relied on each other's resources.

"What are you waiting for?"

Illya urged. She had long intended to question someone's thoughts. He had spoken so confidently at the time, yet he responded to someone else's call.

At dusk, in the forest southeast of the Tousaka family.

Matou Zouken placed his hand on the huge stone engraved with defensive and spirit-gathering functions, feeling the magical power gathered in the spiritual land.

He quickly reinforced the formation, which was a piece of cake for him.

"With this growth rate, it seems that some spiritual energy has been lost again. I need to make some more 'vessels' to consolidate the spiritual power."

"There's still no one to take over. Even things like this have to be done by me personally."

After retracting his hand, Matou Zouken tapped his lower back, looking old and having difficulty moving.

"Isn't that right, Sakura? Or are you here to help me with the affairs of the spiritual land?"

A girl wearing a purple hood walked out of the woods. After taking off her hood, Matou Sakura looked at Matou Zouken in front of her with an expressionless face.

"You've been missing for so long, and you've only just returned. That's the Command Seal, right? Did your wings harden after acquiring the Servant?"

Matou Zouken was leaning on a cane and laughing.

"It seems that I need to be re-educated."

By pounding the crutch on the ground a few times, Zouken Matou used common sense to awaken the crest worm in Sakura Matou's body, but the magic power belonging to Zouken Matou swept over Sakura's body without any effect.

"Your magic circuit... is it? It's no longer water-attributed. It seems someone has helped you repair your body."

Zouken Matou was glad that he had not put the Life Worm and the fragments of the Lesser Holy Grail into Matou Sakura's body in advance. It would be easy for someone with a perfect repair magic circuit to deal with his fragile Life Worm.

"You look like you want revenge, right? I'm doing this for your own good, but you really don't appreciate it."

With hundreds of years of experience, Zouken Matou can feel that Sakura Matou is still unable to control his new magic circuits. The quality of his magic power is high, but the utilization rate is very poor. The unnecessary waste is clearly smelled by the insects in his body.

"Just because you came here alone with an unknown Servant, you think you can keep me here? You are too naive!"

"Let me teach you to respect your elders!"

Zouken Matou decided to capture Sakura Matou and modify her magic circuits again. I wonder what kind of expression she will have when she experiences it again after growing up and having seen the sun.

He is fearless in the face of the unknown servant Matou Zouken hiding in the dark. Even if things get worse, with his means, he can still save his life.

"I don't think someone like you can be called an elder!"

The uninvited guest suddenly spoke and threw a gem in front of Zouken Matou. As the magic power burst out from the gem, half of Zouken Matou's body was blown away.

"Sakura, I'm here to help you!"

Toosaka Rin leaped into the battlefield and stood in front of Matou Sakura.

"Gem magic..."

The body tissues that were blown apart by Toosaka Rin turned into tiny flying insects and returned to Matou Zouken's body, regaining its complete human form.

"It seems that the Tohsaka family will also take care of our Matou family's affairs."

"It's not just the Tohsaka family."

At some point, two flying birds made of silk threads sandwiched Zouken Matou on the left and right, and the light bullet called Zahre (tear) pierced Zouken Matou's head and heart.

"The Einzberns did it too."

Surrounded by several white stork knights, Illya also stepped onto the battlefield.

90

Chapter 90 Jason: With the three of us working together, how can Zouken Matou be our match?

"Even the Einzberns are meddling in this matter?"

Illya's attack did not cause any substantial damage to Zouken Matou, but he knew with his toes that he had no chance of winning against three magicians with servants, and he was ready to escape.

"Actually, I don't really want to get involved. After all, that old man Ahad doesn't do much."

Illya controlled the White Stork Knights to surround Matou Zouken, with light bullets ready to fire. "But who made that guy so compassionate? I've been following him for a while, and I've been infected by him."

"Illya? Why are you here too?"

Sakura Matou worked with Illya a lot in the timeline ten years ago. If you have to say it, it was Illya's power that killed Zouken Matou.

After hearing Matou Sakura's words, Tohsaka Rin's heart sank: Sakura really knew Illya, which meant that what Illya said was very likely true. She still had a glimmer of hope, and Sakura was such a well-behaved girl.

"It's not a good thing for a magician to be overly compassionate."

Zouken Matou really couldn't understand why he was attacked simultaneously by the three great families that created the Holy Grail ritual.

"You have no right to say that. Machirizolgen once said that he would eradicate the evil in human nature."

When Illya was in Jiang You's hands, she had a complete battle with Matou Zouken from that timeline. It was so satisfying to watch the show at that time.

"Don't you think so, Mr. Zolgen?"

"Ah, what an old name... I almost forgot it myself. But no one knows about this except me. Who told you?"

Matou Zouken felt inexplicably frightened. Even though he had been hiding for over 300 years, his life experience seemed to be peeled open like an orange, revealing the fragile flesh inside.

"Of course it's our invincible yet discredited Caster!"

Illya made an inviting gesture, as if welcoming someone. This was the gesture Jiang You made whenever he summoned her, and she was just imitating him.

But no one responded, and the atmosphere on the scene became a little awkward for a moment.

"Caster! What, you're afraid to come see me?"

Illya raised her hand, revealing Minamoto no Raikou who rushed directly in the direction of the one with spiritual reaction. Under Doujikiri Yasuna's slashing, the raging purple lightning turned large tracts of trees into charcoal.

Then, a purple Servant leaped out from the shadows. This Servant had long, bright purple hair, a mask covering her eyes, and a pair of chain swords nimbly moving in her hands.

"It's actually Medusa!?"

Jason also appeared behind Tohsaka Rin. As a fellow figure from Greek legend, he immediately recognized Rider's identity.

"Sakura, do you want to attack this Servant as well?"

Medusa, who had been attacked, crouched down, adopting a snake-like attacking stance. Although she said this, she actually had a good impression of Minamoto no Raikou, a servant who was taller and more voluptuous than herself.

Sakura shook her head at Medusa. From Illya's behavior, she knew that Illya's goal was to find Jiang You. After all, Jiang You's Noble Phantasm had already been activated. "Illya must have misunderstood something. Caster is not with me."

"Why is it a woman!?"

Illya opened her mouth in surprise. This was not the result she wanted. "You didn't summon Caster either, so where is he?!"

"I do not know either."

Sakura Matou answered honestly that she actually thought that it was Jiang You who was summoned by Illya. Now it became confusing who Jiang You's Master was.

"He must have been summoned by another Master."

"Good for you Caster!"

Illya became even angrier. Jiang You actually betrayed all the people he had ties with and went to fool around with strangers. He was as hateful as Emiya Kiritsugu who abandoned her and adopted Emiya Shirou!

After hearing the conversation between Illya and Matou Sakura, Toosaka Rin breathed a sigh of relief: it turned out that the two of them were fighting for a male servant whose job was Caster. Although she didn't know which servant was so popular, at least they didn't cross the dangerous threshold of Lunli.

However, Tousaka Rin felt that she had some impression of Caster's words.

"The one you're looking for isn't a black-haired Servant named 'Jiang You', is he?"

"!"

"!"

Illya and Matou Sakura reacted at the same time. Illya grabbed Toosaka Rin's hand. She had been waiting for several days: "Tousaka Rin, you have seen him, where?!"

Although Sakura Matou's reaction was not as intense as Illya's, Toosaka Rin still saw a hint of anxiety in her eyes.

"In that manor that was burned to the ground last night, I think it's a good thing you didn't summon Caster. Not only is Caster slaughtering people wantonly, he's also using his own Master as a battery for his own use!"

"Wantless slaughter? Abuse of the Master?"

Illya showed a puzzled expression. Could it be that this summoned Jiang You had an Alter field? "Who? Caster?"

"Yes, I saw it with my own eyes!"

Rin Tohsaka had encountered Jiang You before, and she had been deeply impressed by the suitcase filled with twisted magic in Jiang You's hand amidst the corpses scattered across the manor. She couldn't imagine how Atram, trapped in the suitcase, could be alive; the mere thought of it sent chills down her spine.

"That shouldn't be the case. He saved 800,000 ordinary people. Even Emiya Kiritsugu praised him as a Servant."

Illya couldn't believe that Jiang You would do such a thing, even though they had participated in the battle to save the world together.

"I don't believe Caster would do such a thing either."

Sakura Matou was more straightforward. She saw the sincere smile on Guo Jiangyou's face after he resurrected 800,000 people. She knew that a guy who could easily hand over the Holy Grail to save others would definitely not do such things.

"Sakura, why are you also... Well, if you don't believe me, you can go to that manor and take a look. You can also go to the church to find out more about the situation. The supervision of the Holy Grail War will not favor any side."

Toosaka Rin invited Illya and Matou Sakura. She also happened to be taking Emiya Shirou to the church tonight to learn about the rules of the Holy Grail War.

"Ladies, let's talk about these things later. That old man who smells like bugs is about to escape."

Jason interrupted the conversation between the three people. At this time, Zouken Matou had already released some hard-to-find insects and was preparing to escape. If it weren't for Jason's sharp eyes, he would have succeeded.

"Time is running out, let's make it quick!"

Toosaka Rin hadn't slept for two days. After finding Matou Sakura, her tense nerves relaxed a little. She wanted to use her last bit of strength to kill Matou Zouken.

The three servants launched an attack under the orders of their respective masters. Zouken Matou was petrified by Medusa with an unwilling expression, and then was shattered into pieces by purple lightning.

As for Jason, he worked hard to avoid Medusa's petrifying eyes and Minamoto no Raikou's purple lightning. Let's congratulate him for surviving.

91

Chapter 91 Let's defeat Caster together!

"Tousaka-senpai, wake up..."