A joke taken too far

By the time Rin Tohsaka noticed, the Black Mist around her had become so dense that it could obscure a space.

It was as if she were deep in a desert during a storm; the murky Black Mist seemed to have a tangible form, intentionally trapping her there.

Jizi beside her had completely lost consciousness. Rin slightly stood up and opened her Mystic Eyes of Replication to observe the flow of magic around her. However, the Mystic Eyes of Replication, which had always been unfavorable, had now lost its effect and she could see nothing but void.

Despite being in this eerie environment, Rin felt no panic or fear, because she remembered that a similar Black Mist had appeared at the school not long ago. Although it was not as large as this one, the type was the same. And that guy had appeared along with the Black Mist back then.

"Are you there? There are quite a few words on the novel website Asashin?"

"I've always been here, Rin."

Rin slowly turned around, and in the darkness, a hooded figure could be vaguely seen.

Novel www. qeu. c

When Shirou Emiya and Saber arrived, following Jizi's footsteps, they only saw a man in Red Coat and a giant man facing him across a Black Mist. Rin Tohsaka was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh my god! Big brother, you finally summoned it!"

A clear, melodious call came from behind the giant man opposite him. Shirou vaguely recognized the voice; it seemed he had heard it not long ago. It was—

"That girl from that day?"

Shirou recalls his encounter a few days earlier with a beautiful foreign girl who resembled a doll.

"I'm so happy that my older brother still remembers me."

Illya peeked out from behind brsrkr and gave Shirou a Lady curtsy.

However, Shirou was not fooled by the girl's demeanor, and he asked directly:

"Are you also an ASTR?" The novel website doesn't skip words.

"Yes." Illya's smile grew even sweeter. "Let me formally introduce myself. My Illyasviel von Einzbern, Shirou Emiya. Nice to meet you."

"Einzbern..." Shirou and Saber both silently repeated the name in their minds, each feeling a complex mix of emotions.

"Since you're right, then Rin Tohsaka and Kiko Emiya must also be right, right? Where are they now?"

"Rin is in that filthy mess right in front of you," Illya pointed to the Black Mist, "And Kiko Emiya, if you're referring to the girl who suddenly barged in earlier, she's probably on her way to the underworld."

"!"

"That was a full-force attack from BRSrkr," Illya said with a cute expression, recounting the horrific events. "His body was almost broken in two, and most of his internal organs were shattered, yet he didn't die on the spot. He's incredibly tenacious."

"You--"

"But the longer you linger on, the more pain you'll experience. So, it's better to just die easily, don't you think, big brother?"

"..."

"You're angry, huh? Perfect, then I'll take you to see her while I'm at it, hehe--brsrkr!"

When Rin finally saw that person again, the emotions she had been holding back for ten years were finally released.

The original plan was to summon her as an Astr and then properly avenge the hatred from back then. Although I heard that the memories of a Srvant are not shared each time they are summoned, as long as the person is still her, the memories can be recreated.

However, the summoning ultimately failed. Actually, aside from a little resentment, there weren't too many regrets at the time. At worst, I could just cause a big scene in the Holy Grail War and use the power of the Omnipotent Wish-Granting Machine to forcibly pull her in.

But was he really too arrogant? The false reputation of genius gained by relying on the Mystic Eyes of Replication given to him by the other party was ultimately just theoretical strength. He lost his close friends and assistants at the beginning. And now, he has reunited with that guy. Rin is not sure whether she is sad or happy.

To speak of joy would be to betray Jizi, while to speak of sorrow would be to deceive one's own heart.

"Hey, Rin? Why do you look so strange? You finally see me, aren't you going to give me a long-awaited hug?" (The novel website doesn't skip words.)

"... Pfft haha--cough cough cough!" It would have been better not to do it, but after hearing that familiar tone, Rin inexplicably laughed. Then she suddenly remembered Jizi behind her, and quickly stopped laughing, but choked again.

"Oh dear, how heartless! That girl loved you so much, she even gave her life for you, and yet you can laugh so happily while her body is barely cold. How could you do this to her?"

"You can save her, right?"

Rin used a statement of fact: if Asashin would deliberately say such nasty things, she must have a plan.

"Tch, this is no fun at all. Rin was much more interesting when she was a kid."

Asashin took a few steps forward and emerged completely from the Black Mist. Only then did Rin realize that the other's body was not a solid entity, but rather transparent like a ghost, seemingly there and yet not there.

This wasn't the time to ask questions, so Rin suppressed her doubts.

Asashin came to Jizi's side, gently squatted down, and ran her hand over the gruesome wound. The surrounding Black Mist automatically condensed and adhered to Jizi's flesh, making it look as if the Black Mist was filling in the damaged tissue.

"You're doing this!" Seeing this, even Asashin Rin Tohsaka, who trusted her completely, couldn't help but have doubts. This black mist was definitely a product of Magecraft, but even her usually ineffective Mystic Eyes of Replication couldn't analyze it. Moreover, as she approached the Black Mist, Rin's intuition kept reminding her that its nature was definitely extremely dangerous.

"The injury is really bad," Asashin, touching Jizi's cheek with a strange mix of emotions, without directly answering Rin. "Honestly, did you have to risk your life like that, for..."

For—or rather, for whom?

"Sigh, it seems I can't escape it in the end. But with a ten-year buffer, it shouldn't be like it was back then."

Asashin continued speaking in a language Rin couldn't understand, then gently lifted Jizi's upper body and slowly brought her face closer to Ji Zi's.

"Hey! You--" Rin was only halfway through her sentence when she was shocked by Asashin's next move.

Asashin's lips pressed against Jizi's neck, then she bit down hard, severing her carotid artery and sucking the blood gushing from the wound.

The shock lasted only a moment. Then, Rin instinctively reached out to pull Asashin away, but her body felt as if it were stuck in a viscous swamp, making it difficult to move. Glancing around out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the Black Mist had wrapped around her like vines.

"--Gurgle--Gurgle--"

The only sound in the air was Asashin swallowing blood, making it impossible for Rin to even speak, let alone cast Magecraft. It was precisely because she was in such a state that Rin began to think about the unusual nature of this suddenly appearing "Asashin".

The fact that she was recognized meant that she wasn't a newly summoned Srvant in this Holy Grail War, but rather someone who had remained in the world since the end of the last war. So, did she ultimately obtain the Holy Grail? But why was there no information about her in the past ten years? I originally thought that Kirei Kotomine was the victor, but now it seems there must be another hidden story.

And what exactly is that ominous Black Mist that appears every time Asashin appears?

"--Gurgle--Gurgle--"

The color drained from Jizi's face, while Asashin's previously ethereal body gradually became clearer.

"--Gurgle--Gurgle--"

Is this Asashin really the same Asashin that Rin knew ten years ago?

"--Gurgle--Gurgle--"

Finally, Asashin's body solidified from a phantom into a complete entity. Jizi's body was also obscured by her, but Rin could imagine what her little assistant would look like now.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

"Oh dear, why are you crying?" Asashin stood up, released her hand and tossed Jizi aside like trash, turned to face Rin, and licked a bit of scarlet from the corner of her mouth, the action exuding a wicked allure.

"Don't look at me like that," Asashin said maliciously, lifting Rin's chin with her hand. "Her injuries weren't caused by me, and you saw it yourself, injuries of that severity are incurable. Rather than letting her die in vain, we might as well make good use of her. You're Magecraft, shouldn't you choose something I don't need to teach you?"

"No," a cold voice echoed in Rin's mind. "Asashin said no. Jizi is doomed. Unless a miracle occurs, she'll just have to die in vain. If Asashin can use her remaining blood to regain a physical form, then maximizing her remaining value is the choice Magecraft should make. Besides, with Asashin's help, the chances of obtaining the Holy Grail are much greater, and then they can use the Holy Grail to resurrect Jizi. And Jizi herself is prepared for this; she's Magecraft too, so she'll definitely agree."

But why should we accept this perfectly logical reasoning with peace of mind?

"Nice to meet you, please take care of me. I am Kiko Emiya."

"No problem, feel free to leave the housework to me, Tohsaka- senpai."

"If you don't mind, I made a bento box. Please enjoy, Rin-senpai."

"Please do not refuse to accept me as your disciple. I will definitely work hard to live up to Rin's expectations."

"Tohsaka- senpai!"... "Rin-senpai!"... "Rin!"...

Why would I think of these things? Why would I—when I clearly know what Magecraft should do, when I'm praised by the bigwigs of the Clock Tower as a genius, a model and exemplar of Magecraft —why would I get caught up in such a simple question?

Besides, what good would it do to refuse? Asashin had already drained her blood; the fact of her death couldn't be changed. Even without Asashin, it would only have delayed her death by a few minutes—it wouldn't have made any difference. If she turned against Asashin because she couldn't accept this reality, wouldn't she have lost everything?

A thousand reasons were telling Rin to accept reality. However, when she saw the corpse of Jizi lying to the side by Asashin —her expression peaceful, without any pain—she couldn't bring herself to be ruthless.

The Clock Tower's genius, the Tohsaka Family's hope—it's all just self-deception and lies. He's completely unsuitable to be Magecraft!

A tear rolled down Rin's cheek and slid onto Asashin's finger. The latter held the tear up to her eyes, examined it closely, and then stuck out her tongue to lick it into her mouth.

"Finally, you can cry openly now," Asashin's vision was quite blurry due to the triple obscuring of tears, Black Mist, and the hood, but she inexplicably sensed that the other's expression was definitely gentler than usual. "Back then, you always held back your tears no matter what, always hiding them, not like a little girl at all."

What was she saying? The stark contrast in Asashin's attitude before and after completely shut Rin down, leaving her unable to even react with surprise.

"Sorry, sorry. I couldn't resist teasing you because we haven't seen each other in so long, but it looks like I went a little too far. I'll make it up to you."

With her restraints removed, Rin collapsed to her knees, utterly exhausted. Instead of getting up, she crawled on all fours to Jizi's side and checked her breath.

"!"

Although his face was completely bloodless, his breathing was strong and powerful. At the same time, a steady heartbeat could be felt beneath his chest, which was shrouded in Black Mist, making him seem nothing like someone who was seriously injured and on the verge of death.

"That's great... that's really great..."

A huge weight lifted from her heart. Lin hugged Jizi tightly, unconsciously repeating those words. After a while, she recovered, gently put Jizi down, stood up, gracefully dusted herself off, and walked towards Asashin, who was watching the commotion. The latter scratched her head somewhat awkwardly.

"Um, sorry... hahaha..."

"Smack!"

A slap landed hard on the other person's face. Because the other person was a Srvant, Rin showed no mercy and swung her hand with all her might, making the sound louder and clearer.

This slap wouldn't cause any harm, but because she didn't expect Rin to do something like that, Asashin lost her balance for a moment. Although she quickly regained her balance, her hood slipped down.

Ten years later, Rin saw that face again, but this time it brought her a different kind of shock.

Back then, Rin was just a little girl, and with Asashin deliberately hiding her face, she hadn't actually seen the latter's true face many times, so her impression of her wasn't deep. Therefore, when she met Kiko Emiya two years ago, she only felt a slight sense of familiarity. Moreover, Asashin's most distinctive feature at the time was her long silver hair, which was comparable to the shimmering moonlight, so she didn't feel anything was amiss.

However, when the two appear together at close range, even the most face-blind or slow-witted person can see that Asashin and Kiko Emiya look exactly alike!

Moreover, now that Asashin has lost the restraint of the hood, her flowing hair is as black as ink.

"What's going on..."

"Well, Rin, if you want to hear it, this story is a bit long—anyway, the situation outside isn't too urgent, so we don't need it—"

------------------ps----------------------

P. S. 1. I originally wanted to finish this part in one chapter, but I got lazy and will leave it here. Sigh...

P. S. 2. I tried to use more delicate emotional descriptions... After reading it once, it felt a bit off, and I'm too lazy to change it. Sigh...

P. S. 3. Should I just reveal the truth like this, or play around with it a little longer...? It doesn't feel right to just say it like this, so I guess I'll just play around a bit more... I'm really talking nonsense. Sigh...

P. S. 4. Last time a pro asked me for chapters and recommendations, and I brushed them off, which I felt was a bit irresponsible. Although it's funny enough that someone like me, a terrible person, would ask for chapters and recommendations, I'll still do it properly this time. Remember to update regularly!

He's a veteran author; I'm sure you all know him, so the quality is guaranteed.

[Bki=3207753, bkna= "DIO's Bizarre Adventure"]

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