"By the way, Akatsuki, are you really okay?"
The seemingly endless stairs stretched deep underground. Tohsaka Rin didn't know how long she had been walking; perhaps an hour, perhaps an entire day. The seemingly infinite stairs stirred a lot of negative emotions in her heart.
Looking at Akatsuki, who had a large hole opened in her chest, Tohsaka Rin was somewhat worried. After all, the hideous wound was painful just to look at, let alone the fact that it was directly on Akatsuki's body.
"Sigh~ Since you're so worried about me, do you want to come and check for yourself?"
Akatsuki raised an eyebrow. The fact that Tohsaka Rin would take the initiative to care for her meant she didn't hold a grudge over being forced earlier. Rounding that up, it meant she could perhaps be a bit more excessive!
"Who—who's caring about you! I'm just afraid you'll mess up when dealing with Caster! I definitely didn't ask because I was worried about your body!"
A textbook example of a tsundere speech.
Akatsuki feigned disappointment, hanging her head dejectedly. "I almost lost my life coming to save you guys, and you won't even show a bit of concern for me..."
Before Akatsuki could finish, Tohsaka Rin hurriedly explained, "I—I didn't mean it like that!"
Tohsaka Rin's face instantly turned bright red. For a moment, she was even incoherent, not knowing how to explain.
Seeing Tohsaka Rin's flustered state, Akatsuki narrowed her eyes. "Oh? Really? Then how do you plan to thank me for helping you so much?"
"Wuu wuu wuu..."
Tohsaka Rin silently looked away from Akatsuki's suggestive gaze. Immediately after, a flash of panic surfaced in her heart—she was actually hesitating!
Could it be that she had already begun to slowly accept it?!
"Sigh, as expected, it was just to placate me..." In an instant, Akatsuki looked gloomy again. For some reason, her disappointed gaze made Tohsaka Rin want to explain something. "Whatever! Just tell me directly what you want after this incident is over!"
Saying that, Akatsuki waved the phone in her hand that was recording and smiled. "It's already recorded, Rin."
"Eh?" Tohsaka Rin looked at the rectangular box in Akatsuki's hand in confusion. "Isn't that used for making phone calls?!"
Tohsaka Rin had heard her friends talk about things called mobile phones, saying they were similar to landlines at home but more convenient to carry. She had once thought about buying one, but she gave up after seeing so many buttons on them.
"Although the functions of phones from the 2000s are limited, they're more than enough for recording besides making calls!" Akatsuki put the phone away and then turned her gaze toward the seemingly endless stairs. "Rin, get ready. I have a feeling Caster is about to make a move!"
Assassin was already dead. Although the poison had disappeared, the wound he left behind was difficult to heal. No matter what Akatsuki did, she could only achieve the effect of stopping the bleeding.
This time, Assassin had injured her heart. Without enough blood, this wound would likely be difficult to recover from.
Thinking this, Akatsuki stayed fully alert while signaling Tohsaka Rin with her eyes to be careful.
Tohsaka Rin nodded with a serious expression. She gripped the jewel in her hand tightly, having already planned her methods for dealing with Caster.
Suddenly, a powerful surge of magical energy arrived, and the entire staircase began to shake. Akatsuki quickly reached out to pull Tohsaka Rin, saying in a low voice, "Watch out!"
A moment later, a black figure slowly rose from the bottomless abyss.
"Caster, I'm surprised you actually dare to show yourself..." Tohsaka Rin gritted her teeth as she uttered the name.
Caster looked at them with a cold sneer, a hint of disdain in her eyes. "It's truly beyond my expectations that you could defeat Assassin. Although he was an unremarkable Heroic Spirit, he was at least a hunter who specialized in hunting True Ancestors during his lifetime. But it ends here."
Having said that, the purple robe on Caster's body moved without wind, and countless magic circles unfolded behind her. Massive beams of magical light shot toward the two of them.
"I have successfully analyzed the greater grail of Fuyuki City. Next, as long as enough magical energy enters the grail's vessel, this war will be over!"
While fending off Caster's attacks, Akatsuki asked, "Who did you choose as the vessel for the grail?! Matou Sakura or Illya!"
"Wait! Why does Sakura's name appear here!"
Tohsaka Rin looked at Akatsuki and Caster in confusion. The defensive magecraft based on Jewel Sorcery was teetering under Caster's assault.
"Ara, so you don't know yet."
Caster smiled and stopped her attack. "That girl is named Sakura, right? Fragments of the Fourth Holy Grail War were implanted in her body, and she even has a Blood-sucking species' physique. She's truly excellent material!"
Hearing this, Akatsuki's expression became somewhat strange. She looked at the triumphant Caster with a hint of pity in her eyes.
"If you're using Matou Sakura as the material to summon the greater grail, I suggest you hurry back and see if Saber and your Master are still alive."
Combining the previous appearance of the black shadow during the day, Akatsuki guessed that Matou Zouken's plan was likely already being implemented. The lesser grail of the Matou Family—Matou Sakura.
Matou Zouken is undoubtedly dead, but that doesn't mean the Mapo Priest hasn't taken over his plan!
Caster, noticing Akatsuki's expression was off, furrowed her brows.
"What kind of tricks are you trying to pla—!"
Before she could finish, Caster immediately turned around and rushed toward the underground. In the pitch-black depths, there were seemingly countless ribbon-like tentacles. Impure wishes converged on the tentacles; the purer the Heroic Spirit, the more they would be suppressed by them.
"Wait, Akatsuki, tell me exactly what happened to Sakura?"
"It's better if you see for yourself."
Akatsuki picked up Tohsaka Rin by the waist and then leapt down into the bottomless hole. As the pitch-black tentacles brushed past Akatsuki, both Caster and Tohsaka Rin realized something was wrong.
"I was careless. That Old Maggot Matou Zouken can't even stay quiet after death!"
Matou Zouken is indeed dead; Akatsuki could be 100% sure of that. And the Magic Crest Worms inside Matou Sakura's body had been mostly dealt with by Akatsuki. Logically, this kind of situation shouldn't have occurred.
However, Akatsuki had overlooked the most crucial person—Kirei Kotomine.
That priest with a personality defect always comes out to cause trouble at the most critical moments. She might as well just go and tear down the Fuyuki Church after this incident is over!
Anyway, she's a True Ancestor, not a Master. A place like that is a hostile territory for her, not a neutral zone!
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