Akatsuki is a person of strong action; as her ex-girlfriend once said, after gaining enough power, she would act on her whims and follow her heart, doing whatever came to mind.
The Matou (Makiri) family is one of the Three Founding Families of the Holy Grail War. The current head is Matou Zouken, the developer of the command spells system used in the Holy Grail War.
"Even in winter, one can hear the sound of insects; that is what Magecraft is like."
Dressed in a black hoodie and black jeans, Akatsuki stood before the gates of the Matou residence. Because it was daytime, her expression was somewhat stiff.
True Ancestors are a species of vampire that does not fear sunlight. If not for their fatal flaw—the Vampiric Impulse—they might have long ago transformed the Earth into a paradise for True Ancestors.
That being said, Akatsuki could clearly feel that the strength she could exert under the sun was not as great as at night; the sunlight weakened a portion of her power, but only a portion.
"Rumble."
As Akatsuki raised her foot, the iron gate before her collapsed with a boom. The Matou Family courtyard, which had been filled with the sound of insects, instantly fell silent.
A hunched old man with a withered face, leaning on a cane, appeared before Akatsuki.
He was Matou Zouken, or rather, one of the founders of the Holy Grail War, Zolgen Makiri—a Magician who had lived for over five centuries.
The moment he appeared, Akatsuki, standing outside the gate, immediately covered her nose. She could smell a strong stench emanating from Matou Zouken's blood, a scent like a mixture of the smell of corpses and aged blood that made one want to gag.
"Oh my, oh my." Matou Zouken seemed surprised by Akatsuki's appearance, his eyes filled with vigilance, but on the surface, he offered a greeting with a forced smile. "I do not know where you, a Dead Apostle, came from, but today's sun is truly unbearable. Why not come inside and have a seat?"
Almost all of Matou Zouken's magical energy was used to maintain his body, leaving him lacking in active offensive means; at most, he used his Familiars to attack others. Thus, in Akatsuki's current state, she was not afraid of this old man who already had one foot in the grave.
Moreover, she did not particularly like the blazing sun in the sky, seemingly influenced by becoming a True Ancestor.
"Then I won't be polite."
Inside the Matou Family's reception room.
Looking at the dust-covered reception room, Akatsuki couldn't help but frown. She stood there silently watching Matou Zouken, but the killing intent radiating from her body already said everything.
"Do you wish to kill this old man? Hahahaha..."
Hearing Matou Zouken's laughter, Akatsuki's frown deepened.
"I shouldn't have offended any Dead Apostles, or are you here for the Holy Grail of Fuyuki City?"
"I am not interested in the Holy Grail; that kind of thing is already useless to me. My target is you!"
In an instant, Matou Zouken's physical body was torn apart by immense brute force. Countless insects swarmed out of his body, reforming into Matou Zouken not far from Akatsuki.
"This old man?"
Matou Zouken looked at Akatsuki in confusion; he still didn't understand why Akatsuki wanted to kill him, but one thing was certain: the young girl before him was a very strong Dead Apostle.
For that physical body to possess such explosive power and speed in broad daylight, even if she wasn't an Ancestor, she wasn't much weaker than one.
"Bang!"
In an instant, Matou Zouken's body collapsed once more. However, this time the insects did not reform into Matou Zouken but instead merged into the old Matou estate.
"Truly a mad dog that bites anyone it sees. If you want to kill me, at least tell me the reason..."
Matou Zouken's voice came from all directions. Seeing this, Akatsuki punched the wall beside her. The punch pierced straight through the wall, causing the entire Matou house to begin to tremble.
"Matou Zouken, you have committed too much evil; now your retribution has come."
"Retribution? Hahahaha, do you want to be an Ally of Justice? Hahahahahahaha..."
An Ally of Justice?
"You bastard, how can you slander my innocence out of nowhere!"
After crushing a Magic Crest Worm crawling out of the wall with a punch, Akatsuki looked at her fist, contaminated with insect blood, with a look of disgust. Using Marble Phantasm, Akatsuki created Black Keys.
"A Dead Apostle using Black Keys as weapons? You must be a mad dog kept by the Church, aren't you?"
"So noisy."
Why use Black Keys? Naturally, it was because she had used weapons similar to Black Keys before for reasons like work, and her proficiency was very high.
She had ultimately underestimated how troublesome Matou Zouken was; relying solely on physical strength, it was impossible to kill that insect scurrying around in the worm pit.
"Magicians really are troublesome; it's not like watching anime."
When she watched anime before, she saw Kirei Kotomine kill the Old Maggot quite easily, so she thought she could do it just as effortlessly after becoming a True Ancestor. But in reality, it was harder than she thought.
She had neither the Mapo priest's Baptism Chant nor knowledge of how to deal with Magicians. She only possessed the body and power of a True Ancestor. Although she knew how to kill a person most quickly due to her previous work, Matou Zouken was clearly no longer human.
"Give up. You have no necessary reason to kill me, right? If you stop now, I won't pursue this. If you keep pestering me, don't blame me for not being gentle with a lady."
"A necessary reason to kill you? That kind of thing... of course I have one!"
The chains of reason began to snap one by one, and a bloodthirsty monster was about to break out of its cage. Her blood-colored pupils turned pitch black. As the Earth's pseudo-UO, wouldn't it be quite embarrassing to lose to a bug?
Thus, she prepared to release one percent of her power to influence the space of the Matou residence.
"Wha—what? What did you do?! This kind of ability..."
...should not appear in a Dead Apostle.
Matou Zouken could no longer speak these words because the time and space where the entire Matou house was located had been fixed. Because he was a second too slow, Matou Zouken failed to escape.
As space and time were compressed, a hunched old man appeared before Akatsuki.
"Mysterious Obliteration."
At this moment, all Mystery and Magecraft lost their meaning. Matou Zouken's body was fading; this body he hated was now rapidly losing color and finally disintegrating.
By the time she left the Matou house, it was almost dark. Akatsuki looked at the setting sun with some exhaustion, recalling the battle with Matou Zouken and giving a bitter smile.
She decided she had to go back and cram knowledge about Magecraft. As a True Ancestor, she could read information directly from the "World," so she didn't need to ask others to know most of the detailed knowledge about Magecraft.
Acting recklessly without intelligence really didn't suit her character. The fever of gaining power had been significantly diluted by physical fatigue.
---------------------------------
Hope you enjoy this fanfiction if you do and would like to read the next 30 chapters in advance, pls do check out my Patreon.
patreon.com/TLScarlet
Also don't forget to give me a Power Stone if you do like this fiction. Your support really motivates me to continue doing my best in translating, Thanks!!