A dimensional journey starting from the Dragon Clan

"..."

I don't know when Kirei put the report next to him, rested his chin on his hand, and fell into deep thought. Kiritsugu Emiya was a man who had a turbulent life experience that no one else could, and in Kirei's view, it was not irrelevant to him.

A magician without any sense of pride, a man who has lost his faith, this is what Tokiomi said about him.

If this is the case, Kiritsugu's fanaticism is almost like pursuing the experience of destruction...or can it be said that he is on a pilgrimage in search of lost answers?

After that, Kiritsugu's ongoing battle suddenly came to an end nine years ago. This was because he met Einzbern, the northern magician who was constantly looking for a place to win the Holy Grail.

In other words, he had already gotten the "answer" by then.

Now Kirei is eagerly looking forward to meeting Emiya Kiritsugu. He finally found the meaning of participating in Fuyuki's battle.

Still, I have no interest in anything like the Holy Grail. However, if Kiritsugu breaks nine years of silence for it, Kirei will understand the meaning of overcoming all odds and coming here to participate in this war.

You have to ask this man. What did you go into this fight looking for, and what did you get?

Kotomine Kirei must confront Emiya Kiritsugu no matter what. Even though it was a battlefield where both sides were betting on life and death.

············

In conclusion, Matou Kariya's mental strength finally withstood the pain. But the body has reached its limit.

By the third month, all my hair had turned white. Scars appeared everywhere on the skin, and other places lost all color and turned into a ghost-like earthy gray. Toxins called magical power circulate in the veins, and they can be seen swelling from under the almost transparent skin, and the whole body seems to be covered with blue-black cracks.

In this way, the body's collapse progressed faster than imagined. The blow to the nerves in the left half of the body was particularly serious, and the left wrist and left foot were even completely paralyzed for a time. Through temporary rehabilitation exercises, the function was temporarily restored, but the reaction of the left hand was still slower than that of the right hand, and the left foot would drag the floor when walking faster.

Heart palpitations due to irregular pulse are commonplace. Do not eat solid food and replace it with glucose infusion.

From the perspective of modern medicine, it is strange that a living body can still function. Despite this, Kariya can still stand and walk. Ironically, this is all due to the blessing of his magic power as a magician that he paid for with his life.

The imprinting insects that have been eating away at Kariya's body for the past year have grown to the point where they can function as a simulation magic circuit. Now it is working desperately to extend the life of its dying owner.

If we look at the number of magic circuits alone, Kariya now has the necessary magic power for a magician. It seemed that this development was beyond expectations for Matou Zouken.

As a result, there were now traces of three command spells on Kariya's right hand. The Holy Grail seems to recognize him as the representative of the Matou family.

According to Zangyan's estimation, Kariya only has one month left to live. From Yan Yeye's point of view, these hours are enough.

The Holy Grail War has entered the countdown stage. If all seven Servants are summoned, the war can begin even tomorrow. The practice of war, based on past experience, only takes about two weeks. There is still some time before Kariya's death.

However, now that Kariya has activated the magic circuit, it means stimulating the marking bug. Of course, the burden on the body at that time was much greater than that of other magicians.

Of course, the worst case scenario is that the imprinted insect has already devoured the host before the battle is decided.

It's not just the other six Masters that Kariya has to fight. It can even be said that the biggest enemy is what resides in his body.

············

That night, Kariya walked toward the underground of Matou Residence in order to challenge the final test. On the way, he suddenly met Sakura in the corridor.

"..."

The timid look on Sakura's face when they first met stung Kariya's chest slightly.

Even though there was nothing that could be done about it now, he turned out to be the object of Sakura's fear, which was very painful for Kariya.

"Hey, Sakura. Are you shocked?"

"...Hmm. Face, what's wrong?"

"Ah. It's just a small problem."

Yesterday the vision in my left eye completely disappeared. Like the necrotic, cloudy white eyeball, the muscles around the eye are also completely paralyzed. The eyelids and eyebrows cannot move either, and the left half of his face probably has a dead look, as stiff and motionless as a mask. Even looking at it in the mirror would scare me, let alone Sakura.

"It's still a little bit close. It seems like I'm going to lose to the 'bugs' in my body. My uncle can't endure it like Sakura."

Originally she wanted to smile bitterly, but it seemed to have turned into a terrifying expression. Sakura became even more frightened and even shrank her body.

However, she was wondering in her heart what the 'patience' the other party meant.

Young Sakura is not that sensible at the moment, and she still doesn't understand many things.

She didn't even know what would happen to her if the man didn't show up in time.

The only thing she knew was that the man told her to show fear of strangers no matter who she saw, so that she could protect herself.

"Uncle Kariya, you seem to be someone else." But no matter what, Sakura was still a little confused and worried about how this man who treated her well had turned into what he is now.

"Haha, maybe that's the case."

Kariya covered up his confusion with dry laughter.

"Sakura, aren't you the same... you have become more afraid of strangers than before..."

Yan Ye felt extremely sad in his heart.

If he had noticed it earlier, maybe things wouldn't have turned out like this.

Sakura, whose surname has now been changed to Matou, has become a completely different girl from the Sakura Kariya knew.

The eyes were as empty and dim as those of a doll, and the emotions of joy, anger, sorrow and happiness in those eyes were something I had never seen in this year. The face of the innocent girl who once followed her sister Rin and played like a puppy has long since disappeared.

This is certainly understandable. Over the past year, think about the cruel education Sakura has received in order to become the heir of magic to the Matou family.

It is true that Sakura's body has good qualities to become a magician. In this regard, he is much better than Kariya and his brother Tsuruo. However, that is the magic quality suitable for the Tosaka family after all, and it is fundamentally different from the magic of the Matou family.

In order for Sakura's body to be suitable for the Matou family's magic, adjustments need to be made. This adjustment was to carry out torture in the name of "education" day and night in the Matou family's underground insect bank.

Children are mentally immature.

They have neither firm conviction nor the power to transform lamentation into anger. Faced with a cruel fate, no one offers them the option to face it with a strong will. Not only that, because children have not yet understood life, they have not yet fully cultivated the spirits of dignity and hope.

Therefore, when forced to the extreme situation, children are more likely than adults to block their own spirits and close their hearts.

You can give up because you haven’t experienced the joy of life yet. You can fall into despair because you don’t understand the meaning of the future.

Like this, Kariya had to witness with his own eyes the process of how a girl gradually closed her heart due to abuse.

While enduring the severe pain of being constantly eroded by the parasites in his body, he endured the even more powerful thoughts of self-blame that devoured his soul.

There is no doubt that one of the reasons for Sakura's suffering is herself. Kariya cursed Matou Zouken.

He cursed Tokiomi Tohsaka and put this curse on himself as well.

The only thing that can be called comfort is that Sakura, who is autistic like Doll 2, is not wary when she sees Kariya, and she will say a few innocent words when she meets him. It didn't matter whether it was sympathy for the same person or the friendship they formed when her name was Tohsaka Sakura. This girl regarded him as a different being from the so-called "educators" such as Zoyan and Tsuruno.

However, he didn't know that the 'process' he saw was all an illusion created by Xuan Hao. Only his fearful behavior and closeness to him were real.

"I don't need to go to the insect library today. Because there seems to be a more important ceremony to be held there. This is what Grandpa said."

"Ah, I know. So my uncle will go to the insect library with you on shift today."

Upon hearing Kariya's answer, Sakura tilted her head as if she was watching his expression.

"Uncle Kariya, are you going somewhere far away?"

Through the child's unique keen intuition, Sakura seems to have sensed Kariya's fate.

But Kariya didn't want to worry the young Sakura too much.

"Uncle will be busy with important things during this period. There won't be many opportunities to talk to Sakura like this in the future."

"That's it..."

Sakura moved her gaze away from Kariya and returned to that blank gaze, as if she was staring into the distance that only she could see.

Or rather, looking at someone.

Seeing Sakura like that, Kariya, who was not on the same channel, felt uncomfortable, so he planned to move on to the next topic.

"I said, Sakura, after uncle's work is finished, can we play together again? With your mother and sister."

Sakura paused for a while and said as if she was helpless.

"I no longer have anyone I can call that. Just treat them as if they no longer exist. This is what Grandpa said to me."

Kariya replied in a voice that didn't know what to do: "That's it..."

He knelt down in front of Sakura and gently hugged Sakura's shoulders with his still flexible right wrist. If he held her to his chest like this, Sakura wouldn't be able to see Kariya's face. This way, you don't have to worry about her crying face.

"...Then, let's take Aunt Aoi, Xiao Rin, and uncle from the Tohsaka family, and the four of us will go to a distant place together. Let's play like before, okay?"

"...Can I still meet those people?"

A weak voice asked in the wrist. Kariya tightened his grip on Sakura's wrist and nodded.

"Ah, of course we can meet again. Uncle can guarantee that."

Others cannot be guaranteed.

If it can be realized, I would like to swear by other words. Just wait a few more days to free you from the clutches of Matou Zouken. Just be patient for a few more days. If possible, I want to tell Sakura now.

However, that is not allowed.

Sakura has worked very hard to paralyze her spirit through despair and optimism. Only in this way can she protect herself; in order to resist the unbearable pain, the powerless girl can only obliterate "the self that can feel pain".

How can you say such cruel words to such a child: "You have to have hope" and "You must cherish yourself". Lines like this that can only provide temporary comfort can only save the person who said it. Giving her hope is like taking away the armor called "despair" from her soul. In that case, the young Sakura's body and mind would definitely not survive even one night and she would collapse.

therefore--

Even though he lived with the Matou family, Kariya never once said that he was Sakura's "savior". He could only act as an adult who was also "bullied" by Zouken and was as powerless as Sakura, protecting her by her side.

"——Goodbye, it's almost time for uncle to leave."

Guessing that it was time to dry up his tears, Kariya let go of Sakura.

Sakura looked up at the broken left half of Kariya's face with a somewhat puzzled expression.

"...Well, bye? Uncle Kariya."

Saying goodbye seemed more appropriate for the occasion. Although she was still a child, she was already sensitive to this.

While watching Sakura walk away listlessly, Kariya prayed devoutly in his heart.

——Hope it’s not ‘too late’ and everything can get better again.

Kariya didn't care anymore. This life has long been decided to be given up for Sakura and Aoi mother and son.

If there was anything "too late" about Kariya himself, it was that he died before he could capture the Holy Grail.

What he was worried about was that "it was too late" for Sakura.

If Kariya can successfully obtain the Holy Grail, even if Sakura can be sent to her mother, the girl who has tightly covered her heart with despair can finally break this hard "shell" and walk outside. The world?

The heartache Sakura has endured over the past year will definitely stay with her for the rest of her life. But at least hopefully it will heal over time. I hope her spirit has not been fatally damaged.

All he could do was pray. It wasn't Kariya who could heal this girl's trauma. He doesn't have much time left, and he no longer has the ability to accept this task.

This matter can only be entrusted to those whose lives are guaranteed in the future.

Kariya turned around and began to walk down the stairs leading to the underground insect warehouse with slow but determined steps. ()