He unzipped it. Scalpels, iron nails, a small hammer... all manner of torture implements spilled out with a clatter, gleaming with cold metal and streaked with blood.
The young man with a short sword embedded in his abdomen struggled to pick them up, then unhesitatingly turned them upon himself.
He sliced open flesh and squeezed out blood.
These had originally been the "gift" Ryunosuke Uryu intended to give Sakutsuki. Now, every last one of them was being used on himself.
From afar, Sakutsuki watched Ryunosuke Uryu mutilate himself, his golden eyes utterly unmoved.
The Fates Codex panel slowly unfolded.
002: Ryunosuke Uryu Character Information: An innocent serial killer... Hidden Information: Though he committed crimes everywhere, he had a job of his own. He was never interested in his victims' money and honestly earned his living during the day—until he finally discovered that the death he sought had always been within his own body, and began mutilating himself. Record Condition (1/1): 1. Kill Ryunosuke Uryu (Completed) Record Condition 1 completed. Reward obtained: Ability parameter "Endurance" restored to its normal value! Endurance D → C
As a pleasant groan rose from within his body, Sakutsuki stretched and felt that his physique had grown considerably tougher.
"The condition has been met. That means..."
He looked up. The man named Ryunosuke Uryu stared emptily ahead, his fingers tightly gripping the blade as he mechanically carved wound after wound into himself.
His blood had already run dry, yet a stiff smile remained on his face.
Like an ukiyo-e painting of the hell of dismemberment.
...Sakutsuki silently looked away.
A serial killer dying early was certainly a good thing, but he had only just arrived in this world and already run into this. Worse, he had personally killed his own "savior"... He did not regret it, but it still left him feeling irritated.
It was like getting splashed with mud by a passing tractor while wearing a freshly washed white shirt.
What rotten luck.
In that case... the young man's gaze shifted toward a cliff not far away, and his golden eyes gradually lit up.
In that case, he would use a traditional pastime to wash away the filth clinging to him.
Facing the rising sun, the young man's eyes gleamed as he sprinted toward the cliff.
He crossed the cool wind, leaped over the carpet-like ground, and opened his arms toward the spotless azure sky—
"Woohoo—!"
With an exhilarated shout, the white-haired young man leaped from the 4,158-meter peak!
Behind him, the half-kneeling figure collapsed despondently to the ground. Blood slowly dried beneath the sunlight, like a burst red pomegranate.
The killer who loved cheetahs was dead.
And the newborn eaglet fell from the mountaintop, letting out its first clear cry toward this beautiful world:
"LEAP—OF—FAITH!!!!"
Five days later, Zugspitze region
The north wind howled, snow filled the sky, and the temperature hit a new low. In weather so harsh that even German soldiers stationed at the border could barely endure it, a figure crossed the Austrian-German border and entered this uninhabited region.
This was a desolate wilderness rarely touched by human feet, and also the boundary between mystery and the ordinary world.
The building known as Winter's Castle, the Einzbern Family—one of the Three Families of the Holy Grail War and a participant in the Fourth Holy Grail War—had secluded itself here, isolated from the world.
As the abnormal flow of magical energy dissipated, the final magical foundation was dismantled. Sakutsuki, the golden-eyed young man, stood up and wiped away sweat that did not exist from his face.
"Whew... Finally dealt with it. The Einzbern Family really is a great family with a thousand-year legacy. Even their family head probably couldn't remember how many defensive boundary fields they've set up, right?"
That was right. After taking a leap of faith from Jungfrau Mountain in the Alps, Sakutsuki had followed the Ley Line's path to the vicinity of Winter's Castle and begun his covert infiltration.
Having watched Fate/Zero, how could he possibly not be interested in the Einzbern Family, or in Kiritsugu Papa, who was currently staying here?
After all, this "ally of justice" was the adoptive father of the original owner of this body, and the ruthless man who chopped down the Holy Grail in this Holy Grail War.
There was also a reason he had not simply charged into Winter's Castle head-on, choosing instead to infiltrate it in such a troublesome manner.
Sakutsuki raised his eyes, and a faint blue panel appeared, displaying an old record.
It was the reward he had received after fulfilling Angelica's record condition.
Hidden Record Condition 3* completed. Reward obtained: Replacement Magic: Modified! Replacement Magic: Modified: A+
As one of the introductory spells, it was a lower-tier foundational magecraft based on degraded exchange. Almost no one used it. Yet in the hands of a family that specialized in this field, the scale, precision, and range of Displacement Magic had transcended common sense, even touching upon elusive concepts such as space and the mind.
With the power of mystery, Sakutsuki was like someone carrying a Magic Workshop with him. He could exert Displacement Magic beyond its normal limits and even reach the incomprehensible realm of "concepts."
Compared to the original Displacement Magic, Replacement Magic: Modified had not only greatly improved in strength and precision, but had also advanced beyond merely knowing how it worked to understanding why it worked—in other words, the Einsworth Family's thousand years of magical accumulation, theories, and techniques had all become knowledge within Sakutsuki's mind.
At this moment, Sakutsuki's knowledge of Replacement Magic was already on par with Darius, the Einsworth Family's head across the past thousand years. He merely lacked sufficient practical combat experience.
And Winter's Castle's impregnable Magic Boundary Field was precisely the perfect opportunity for Sakutsuki to practice.
Concept Extraction: Art of Death. Ryu-chan happily received his lunchbox. Let's celebrate~
Special reminder: Do not attempt a leap of faith in real life (free-falling)!!
The impact of falling from a height can cause tremendous damage to the human body. Neither haystacks—though hay bales can reduce fall damage in Minecraft—nor sponge mats can save you! Even if emergency services laid out an inflatable rescue cushion for you, it would not help.
In the Assassin's Creed movie, before the protagonist's ancestor Aguilar jumped from a height into the water, he first threw his throwing knives into the water to disturb the waves and reduce the impact he would suffer. Even so, it was still extremely dangerous. Do not try it.
Subaru Natsuki, please consciously ignore this.
Let's begin with a certain man.
A man who possessed more ideals than anyone else, and thus fell into despair.
That man's dream was very simple.
He merely sincerely wished for everyone to be happy.
Every boy had once held such a dream, but once they understood the cruelty of reality, they gave it up. They abandoned that childish ideal.
Happiness came at the price of sacrifice—every child learned this simple truth while growing up.
But that man was different.
When he realized that all life in this world rested upon the scales of "sacrifice" and "salvation," and that it was absolutely impossible to empty either side...
He resolved to become the master of those scales.
Within the snow-covered forest, the defensive boundary field had been eroded to create a small passage, enough for someone to infiltrate Winter's Castle without anyone noticing.
...Provided the infiltrator had a map.
Unfortunately, Sakutsuki had no such thing. Therefore, he chose a simple and brutal method—following the Ley Line's path.
As the Einzbern Family's headquarters, Winter's Castle had naturally been built atop the finest Ley Line in the Alpine region. This was common knowledge among magecraft families.
And because of that, as long as he kept following the Ley Line, he would eventually reach the core.
Amid the swirling snow, Sakutsuki used Displacement Magic to "displace" and disrupt the alert portions of the defensive magic formations, dismantling the mystery like scattered building blocks as he smugly thought to himself.
Having been an ordinary person from an ordinary world only half a month ago, he was quite pleased with his own decision.
However, the result of the operation he was so proud of unexpectedly came to an abrupt end midway.
"Rustle..." Tiny snow boots struggled through the thick snow, and small hands parted the grass. A little girl in a purple felt hat and purple dress looked around as she slowly walked toward Sakutsuki.
Had it not been snowing so heavily today and obstructing her vision, the girl would likely have discovered Sakutsuki, this uninvited guest, at first glance.
This was bad. Very, very bad.
Sakutsuki watched the tiny creature in the snowy woods approach him and silently reviewed his mistake.
He had indeed considered every variable related to magecraft, yet he alone had failed to account for the possibility of being discovered by someone.
Still, he had a chance to escape. As long as he withdrew before being noticed, Sakutsuki could avoid the Bad End of a failed infiltration.
Right. As long as he displayed speed beyond that of an ordinary person, he would surely be able to leave in style.
But just as he was about to act, the approaching girl's face froze his movements as though the power had been cut.
The blood throughout his body seemed to flow backward. Excited tremors ran along Sakutsuki's spine, and emotions that did not belong to him shuddered within him, forcing Sakutsuki to stare directly at the small figure walking toward him.
Silver hair, ruby-like eyes, a purple dress—an elf of the snow.
Those descriptions tugged at the same name within Sakutsuki's mind, within the shell of Shirou Emiya—
Illyasviel von Einzbern.
The child of his adoptive father Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel, and also his—Shirou Emiya's—adoptive older sister. Though Sakutsuki was far older and taller than her.
Perhaps due to the changes brought by the transmigrator's memories, even when facing family members not from his own World Line, this body still conveyed intense joy, like someone who had lost everything realizing during his wandering journey that he was not alone after all.
At that moment, Illya finally noticed Sakutsuki, the unfamiliar "big brother."
There was no wariness and no shouting. The silver-haired, snow-skinned girl looked at the tall white-haired young man, a delighted smile appearing on her face.
Though she was only six and could barely stand steadily, Illya still lifted her skirt and performed a lady's curtsy. Then she eagerly straightened up, her ruby-like eyes brimming with anticipation.
"Big brother, big brother, do you know what a walnut sprout is?"
Under Illya's expectant gaze, Sakutsuki could not bring himself to say no. He could only crouch down with a wry smile. "I do. It's the new shoots that grow from walnut trees, right?"
"Mhm, mhm, that's right!" Upon receiving confirmation, Illya smiled happily. "Um, big brother, could you please do Illya a favor?"
"Of course. Tell me."
"Come look for walnut sprouts in the forest with me!" Illya clenched her tiny fists and declared spiritedly, "I have to beat Kiritsugu in tomorrow's competition!"
I see. So she snuck out today? No wonder no one else was with her... Sakutsuki fell silent for a moment, then smiled and extended his hand. "It would be my honor, little princess of Winter's Castle."
However, his gesture seemed to make Illya misunderstand. Smiling happily, she grabbed Sakutsuki's arm with both hands and climbed onto his shoulder with little grunts, as though scaling a mountain.
Sakutsuki's body swayed slightly before quickly steadying.
The girl's tiny, frail body was not as heavy as Sakutsuki had expected. Holding her felt like scooping up a handful of fresh snow—so delicate that it seemed she would fall with the slightest shake.
Less than fifteen kilograms... The young man swiftly reached that conclusion.
The magical knowledge inherited from the Einsworth Family made a merciless judgment: this girl's body had long been modified. Compared to a human, she was more like the vessel of some kind of tool—her development would most likely stop during the early stage of secondary sexual characteristics.
Illyasviel... Upon her body rested the crystallization of the Einzbern Family's thousand years of history, as well as the sins that family had accumulated along the way.
"Let's go, let's go, big brother!" Unaware of Sakutsuki's thoughts, Illya, already familiar with the terrain, quickly settled into place. After taking a few tiny breaths, she excitedly cried out, "Illya will definitely beat Kiritsugu tomorrow!"
Sakutsuki set aside his tangled thoughts. The smile he showed Illya remained as gentle as ever.
"As you command, my cutest little princess. Away we go~~"
"Wow, so high, so high! Illya is flying—!"
Clear, carefree laughter belonging only to a child echoed through the walnut forest filled with wind and snow.
"Big brother, what's your name?"
"Sakutsuki... No, just call me Shirou. At least here, you can call me that."
"Oh... Then, Big Brother Sakutsuki Shirou, have you found any walnut sprouts?"
"Look over there. Aren't those walnut sprouts?"
Through Sakutsuki's inherent skill Clairvoyance: C, the new shoots concealed beneath the snow were perfectly clear.
"Where, where? Wow, they really are! Big Brother Shirou is amazing!"
"Haha, of course I am."
Amid laughter and cheerful voices, Sakutsuki and Illya slowly passed through the forest. Ahead of them, the magnificent silhouette of the Einzbern Family's castle flickered in and out of view.
Before you continue