Chapter 370

"So," Li Pu asked as he dragged Yan Yoruichi along, "How did you suddenly understand all of this? Weren't you just now unwilling to grant your wish?"

"No," Matou Kariya said. "Kiritsugu didn't say much to me. He just advised me to think it over, but Kirei Kotomine actually encouraged me to try. They all said that if you make a wish, you will definitely pay a price, Kirei Kotomine said that I could try adding a sentence to my wish to transfer the price to Tohsaka Tokiomi."

"Oh~" Li Pu suddenly realized and said, "Do the opposite!"

It seems I was wrong after all; Kiritsugu's words probably only had a slight effect. But Kirei Kotomine's words played a crucial role. This is probably why I would oppose anything the enemy supports.

"You're worried about being deceived, fulfilling someone else's wishes, but bearing the consequences yourself." Li Pu was fairly certain.

That's basically it, there's no doubt about it. She thought Kirei Kotomine had started pursuing pleasure.

- [(

"I know what Tohsaka Tokiomi and Kirei Kotomine are up to." Li Pu said with even more certainty now, "They want to see if I can grant other people's wishes, how I can do it, and what the price will be."

Then see if you can fulfill his wish, so that Tokiomi can achieve his wish without Baal to fight the Holy Grail War.

This was meant to encourage Kariya to give it a try, but when it came to him, he thought there was a trap involved, perhaps the two sides were working together to frame him.

As for why he suddenly said it, it was probably a gamble.

"My Goddess," Matou Kariya asked this time with a touch of politeness, "This wish..."

"Oh~ Let's go confirm it now." Li Pu said, "Because your wish is a bit strange, there are two people who could make Sakura despair: Matou Zouken and Tohsaka Tokiomi."

"The simplest and most brutal way would be to kill both of them and fulfill our wish. A more difficult option might be to kill one of them and let the other accept his fate. As for the even more difficult option..." Li Pu paused and said, "In short, let's go first and see what happens."

"I reckon Matou Zouken is either dead or waiting to die right now."

Chapter Thirty-Five Matou Family is Quiet

The Tohsaka Family's basement.

"How is the situation?" Tohsaka Tokiomi asked the gramophone beside him, his face expressionless, standing in the dim light.

"As we expected, Matou Kariya made his wish to the Goddess of Fate." Kirei Kotomine's voice came from the phonograph, still as calm as ever, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him. "The Goddess of Fate has accepted his wish."

"So, has his wish come true?" Tohsaka Tokiomi's voice became slightly anxious this time.

The Goddess of Fate's attempt to control Matou Kariya cannot be considered a conspiracy; Kiritsugu already had a plan after making contact with Matou Kariya.

Kirei Kotomine's contact with her was merely to confirm something. What truly concerned Tohsaka Tokiomi was whether that Goddess could truly grant any wish. If she could, perhaps he wouldn't need to go to such lengths to scheme.

Gilgamesh is indeed a very powerful Heroic Spirit, but power also means difficulty in controlling him.

More often than not, Gilgamesh was not very cooperative with his actions, and he viewed his plans with a mocking and playful attitude. His forced subservience did not earn Gilgamesh 'Gilgamesh approval or cooperation.

Tokiomi looked at the three Command Spell on the back of his hand. He was quite lucky; he hadn't lost a single one since the start of the war.

But that was just good luck. Since the start of the war, Tokiomi has increasingly felt that a rift has formed between him and Gilgamesh, and that rift is gradually widening.

This rift became even more pronounced after Gilgamesh returned from the party.

"What's the situation with the Matou Family?" Tokiomi composed himself; now wasn't the time to think about that. Until the situation became clearer, he needed to continue cooperating with Gilgamesh as much as possible.

"I'm not entirely sure," Kirei Kotomine. "Because all the Assassins have perished in Rider's Inherent Domain, we've temporarily lost our eyes and ears keeping an eye on the Matou Family."

"Is that so..." Tokiomi sighed and said, "It seems we made a mistake by letting Assassin leave the stage so quickly."

The meaning of Assassin is to sacrifice a piece, except that this sacrificed piece can unexpectedly serve as an ear and an eye.

While Caster's unexpected intervention didn't force the Goddess to reveal her trump card, it seems Caster has already tested the Goddess's fighting limits. As for the Goddess's statement that she wasn't going all out and that she still has a seal on her body, that was likely a smokescreen. If she were truly going all out, how could Caster have escaped?

So aside from her peculiar Noble Phantasm that grants people's wishes Tokiomi has basically determined the upper limit of this Goddess's abilities.

Forcing Rider to reveal his trump card was indeed a winning proposition for Assassin at the time. Sacrificing a piece to force the opponent to use a powerful move was a clear advantage for Assassin. However, looking at it now, it seems there's something missing.

I never expected things to turn out this way.

"However, it seems that it would be very taxing for her to use that ability," Kirei Kotomine said. "According to observations, she experienced a period of inability to perform the ritual after using that ability."

"Really?" Tokiomi said with surprise, "This is indeed a useful piece of information."

"So, what about the Matou Family..." Kirei Kotomine asked.

"No need," Tokiomi said. "I think I roughly know what's going on. That Goddess does seem to be able to grant some wishes, but they're probably limited to a very small range. As for the price she mentioned, I think she's just using that as an excuse to refuse to grant wishes she can't fulfill. And according to the laws of Heroic Spirit Summoning, I guess Einzbern used a necromancy to summon a god into a homunculus, and then used the Holy Grail Law to disguise himself as a summoned Heroic Spirit."

Tokiomi was now even more certain of his judgment: the Einzbern were, after all, the Three Founding Families who created the Holy Grail. They certainly had the ability to do these things.

Based on all the information gathered so far, it's pretty much confirmed that, judging from her fight with Caster, she's probably the type who's all bark and no bite. Her initial victory over Lancer was largely due to others not knowing her well.

The ability to fulfill wishes is also extremely weak, having almost no effect on anything.

It seems I was overthinking it.

Tohsaka Tokiomi said, "We're probably all intimidated by her Goddess status. She's actually not that strong, quite weak. As for the Matou Family, they're nothing special. Let's ignore them and focus all our attention on the Holy Grail War."

"I understand, teacher."

Kirei Kotomine, who was at home, hung up the communication with Tohsaka Tokiomi.

"It seems Tohsaka Tokiomi no longer takes that Goddess seriously." Lying on the sofa behind Kirei Kotomine, Gilgamesh swirled the wine Golden Flash in his hand and said with amusement, "This is truly the most foolish decision I have ever seen."

"It seems Archer doesn't agree with the teacher's judgment," Kirei Kotomine asked rhetorically.

"I, the King, will not bestow my possessions upon a counterfeit," Golden Flash said. "The seal on her body has not yet been broken. Even without the seal, she can still easily defeat Lancer, and after being ambushed by Lancer, she was still able to force Caster to retreat."

"Even if she's not a true god, her strength shouldn't be underestimated. If she were to unleash all the seals..."

"That would be very interesting."

Golden Flash took a small sip.

"Oh? It seems Archer thinks highly of her." Kirei Kotomine finally showed a hint of interest and said, "Then how about we release her from the seal?"

"Something interesting might happen."

"What are your thoughts?" Golden Flash glanced sideways at Kirei Kotomine.

"Caster," Kirei Kotomine said, "Before all my Assassins were lost, I showed them Caster and his Master for a while. After Caster escaped from the Goddess, he was preparing something. I think it should be a large-scale Magecraft that Caster used to kill a god. However, neither Caster nor his Master are regular Magecraft, so their magical power should not be enough to complete that large-scale Magecraft."

"But what if we give them a little pointers?" Kirei Kotomine's voice remained calm, as if he weren't discussing some conspiracy, "And teach them how to utilize the Earth Vein of Fuyuki City?"

"My esteemed king, have you ever considered why the Holy Grail War was chosen to be held in Fuyuki City in the Far East?"

Golden Flash shook the cup in her hand without answering.

"Because Fuyuki City has a vast Earth Vein beneath its surface," Kirei Kotomine. "That near-infinite power will surely give the Goddess a surprise."

The Matou Family.

They are somewhat out of place among the Three Founding Families of the Holy Grail War, neither living in a castle nor resembling the Tohsaka Family, who like to make their home style look like it's from the last century.

At least from the outside, the Matou Family looked more normal; it was a very traditional Japanese mansion. If Li Pu hadn't known that this was the Matou Family's headquarters, she would definitely have wondered what kind of place this was.

Isn't this just an ordinary Japanese-style mansion?

But Li Pu was, after all, a transmigrator. She knew this wasn't just an ordinary Japanese mansion, but also an insect storage facility. If Matou Kariya were to describe it, it would be an even more terrifying place! For him, this place held too many unbearable memories of the past, and too many things that filled him with despair and hatred.

"This is it." Matou Kariya stood at the Matou Family's residence, looking up at the viewpoint.

If it weren't for Sakura, he really wouldn't want to go back to this place.

"Aren't you going to go in and take a look?" Li Pu asked. "Maybe this place has changed."

"Change?" Matou Kariya said, whether in self-deprecation or mockery, "You mean that damned old man has become kind?"

"That's not necessarily true," Li Pu said, arms crossed. "Maybe that old man and all his annoying Engraved Worm have disappeared from this world."

"Together?" Matou Kariya said, "If he disappears from this world, then what are the Engraved Worm on my body?"

"That's yours," Li Pu said with a shrug. "The Engraved Worm on you were intentionally preserved; they won't disappear until we finish the cutting. Otherwise, the Berserker would be gone without magical support, and all my efforts would have been for nothing."

"Are you sure?" Matou Kariya asked rhetorically.

"I'm absolutely certain." Li Pu said, sounding slightly impatient, "Because it uses the Demon Race's wish-granting rules, the item was included as part of the transaction from the very beginning. Once you're certain your wish has been granted, you'll transfer Berserker's Command Spell to me as part of the transaction."

"Only then is the wish truly fulfilled."

Li Pu wasn't lying about the rules of the Demon Race. As for why they used them? Actually, both the gods and demons are very familiar with each other's rules and characteristics.

Some of the rules of the Demon Race can also be used by the God Race, but the God Race don't use them most of the time.

"I hope so," Matou Kariya, looking at the gate.

Seem...

This place seems to be my own home...

It has become so much quieter.

So, did my wish really come true?

She's Goddess, she wouldn't lie, right?

Chapter Thirty-Six: The New Insect Envoy

Matou Zouken disappeared.

All traces except for his memories had vanished. Matou Kariya, dragging his crippled body, searched the entire Matou Family compound but couldn't find Matou Zouken.

The ugly old man, who was nominally his father, disappeared, along with his Engraved Worm, vanishing from the world without a trace.

Now, apart from the Engraved Worm on his own body, there are no other Engraved Worm to be found. So, has his wish been granted? Or is Matou Zouken and this Goddess of Fate playing tricks on him?

Matou Kariya quickly dismissed the idea.

This is ridiculous. Why would the Goddess of Fate play tricks on her with that old man Matou Zouken?

So, has everything I've been pursuing come to an end here?

Matou Kariya dragged his crippled body slowly out of the Matou Family's gate. He saw the Goddess standing under the streetlight, waving her finger. Following Goddess gaze, he could also see moths circling the streetlight.

However, the path that the moth was flying didn't look normal at all.

Upon seeing Matou Kariya emerge from the Matou Family's gate, Li Pu withdrew his hand and said, "Judging from your expression, your wish has been fulfilled."

"What other price do I need to pay?" Matou Kariya stood at the door without walking up to Li Pu, his voice sounding slightly worried.

"Theoretically, it's not necessary," Li Pu said. "Although Matou Zouken used the Engraved Worm to achieve immortality, there's a common saying that 'a person dies when they are killed.' He's the same. Moreover, 'death' is part of his destiny. In this respect, it's just that what was originally 'possible to die' has become 'certain to die.'"

"Of course," Li Pu added, "What you might have to pay isn't just a price, but that Zang Yan's death has changed from the future to the present. You might face all sorts of other troubles."

It's basically about a sudden shift in the world line, after Matou Zouken was killed by a wish. What will happen between then and the next Holy Grail War is Li Pu probably won't become the Lesser Holy Grail, right?

It's hard to say, but it will definitely be a little troublesome, though probably not too much.

"Alright." Matou Kariya didn't ask any further questions. He raised his left hand and said, "I can transfer the Command Spell to you, but I'm not quite sure how to transfer them."

"You don't need to worry about that." Gaia rose up from behind Li Pu, and Li Pu raised his left hand and placed it on the back of Matou Kariya. A silver light flashed, and the same Command Spell as Matou Kariya appeared on the back of Li Pu's hand.

"Transferring Command Spell Seals is not difficult at all," Li Pu said, looking at the back of his hand. "Anyone who knows mediumship can transfer Command Spell."

The only problem lies in the caster's abilities. Gaia's abilities are absolutely top-notch, and combined with divine power, transferring the Command Spell shouldn't be a problem.

"So next," Li Pu said, "Is the wrap-up."

Song of Healing, a resonance with angels.

There are no lyrics; the music simply changes tone according to the melody. This is probably a key characteristic of Divine Art, as it is edited based on changes in melody. This presents an extremely high challenge to the caster's singing ability.

Even the smallest healing technique must not be mistaken.

As the Goddess sang Matou Kariya's complexion gradually regained its color, and the half of his body that had lost consciousness began to regain its senses. Moreover, Matou Kariya even noticed that the Goddess's power was still influencing the Matou Family's residence.

The gloomy, dark house, which made people feel uncomfortable, was visibly revitalized.

Evil and sin were also dispelled by the Goddess's power, and peace and tranquility returned.

When the song stopped, Matou Kariya finally took off his hood. This time, he looked at the Goddess in front of him with gratitude and said, "Thank you, Goddess, thank you for giving me a new life and for giving Sakura happiness again."

"Hmm." Li Pu glanced at Matou Kariya and then at the house behind him.

"Do you want to become an insect messenger again?" she asked.

"Insect Master?" Li Pu had barely finished speaking when he saw a look of disgust on Matou Kariya's face. He immediately refused, saying, "I don't want to become like that old man."

"No~" Li Pu shook his finger and said, "I'm not asking you to raise those kinds of bugs."

"How should I put it? It's a special kind of Magecraft," Li Pu explained. "You need to put in a lot more patience to observe the insects, raise them, reproduce them, then build an emotional relationship with them, and finally control them."

"It's more difficult to use than the Matou Family's Engraved Worm, and the conditions might be more complex. You'll need to put in more effort."