It could not even offer the slightest comfort to his soul.
He hated, he cursed, he raged hysterically... but none of it meant anything, nor could it stop King Hassan's advance.
The greatsword pierced through his chest... What did killing you have to do with you...?
Zouken Matou, who had been brimming with confidence not long ago and believed he would be the one to raise the Holy Grail in the end, turned to ashes beneath King Hassan's greatsword...
"Sakura, this is the last help I can offer you... Until we meet again..."
With the intention of giving Sakura one final bit of help before departing, he destroyed Zouken Matou's clone, which had long been lurking beside the Pseudo-Holy Grail.
King Hassan removed the skull mask from his face, a kindly smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.
He gazed in the direction of the Matou Residence as he gradually faded away beside the Pseudo-Holy Grail, which was on the verge of taking shape...
And with the final Servant leaving this Pseudo-Holy Grail War, leaving behind only one Master-Servant pair, the Pseudo-Holy Grail was fully activated.
The shell of the Pseudo-Holy Grail, personally constructed by Zouken Matou, began to crack apart. One insect corpse after another fell to the ground.
And as the entire Pseudo-Holy Grail, from its shell to its core, shattered completely...
Just as the entire Pseudo-Holy Grail was crushed into a mass of soft golden light, beside it...
Golden hair fell to her thighs. She wore an oversized white shirt that reached her knees, and her petite frame, mesmerizing face, and emerald-green eyes made her look at first glance like a dazed little loli. The Counter Force—Gaia—had descended.
Long, silky black hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. Her body and face seemed like the perfect culmination of humanity's dream lover, yet the mysterious aura around her was full of contradictions... She possessed the bearing of an elegant mature woman, but also inspired instinctive fear. The Counter Force—Alaya—had arrived as well.
"Begin recovery..."
Gaia nodded lightly, her voice dozens, perhaps hundreds of times more ethereal than the most spiritual sound in nature.
Alaya, whose aura was incomparably strange despite seeming like the embodiment of human beauty, nodded beside her. Then, in a bizarre voice that sounded as though hundreds or thousands of people were speaking at once, she said,
"I need your blood..."
The moment she spoke, the depths of the earth beneath their feet began to stir.
Gaia did not reply. Instead, she directly drew upon the purest magic power from the Star Core.
She stretched out her slender hand and grasped the magic power that, with the slightest disturbance, could shatter Fuyuki City and erase it completely.
Then, in no more than the blink of an eye, the magic power Gaia had drawn from the Star Core transformed completely into a brand-new Holy Grail within Alaya's hands.
They looked at one another, hostility appearing in both their eyes.
The two Counter Forces, who had seemed to get along just fine a second earlier, simultaneously reached for the golden orb of light emerging from the Pseudo-Holy Grail the very next second.
Then, in the next instant, the pair vanished together with that mass of light.
Who knew whether those two Counter Forces had gone off somewhere to tear each other apart...
Only the Holy Grail Alaya had just personally created remained behind.
In truth, this Holy Grail War had been a trap from the very beginning.
A trap created by the two Counter Forces.
At Zouken Matou's level, he could indeed construct a Holy Grail, but the scale of the Holy Grail War he created would at most have matched an ordinary Sub-Category Holy Grail War.
He might not even have been able to summon more than a few proper Servants...
The reason this Holy Grail War had escalated to the point where multiple Grand Servants descended...
Was entirely because... the core of this Holy Grail War, the so-called Pseudo-Holy Grail, had never been a Pseudo-Holy Grail at all. It was the Star-Forged Holy Grail, created jointly by the two Counter Forces within the Star Core!
Forget two Grand Servants. If Sakura had not been so stingy and drawn only ten years' worth of magic power from the Great Holy Grail...
Even seven Grand-level Servants could have been dragged down by this Star-Forged Holy Grail.
Even the Great Holy Grail seemed crude and inferior in comparison to this Star-Forged Holy Grail.
That was why, once the dust had settled, the two Counter Forces had immediately appeared to reclaim the Star-Forged Holy Grail hidden inside Zouken Matou's Holy Grail.
However, no one yet knew why the two Counter Forces had done this, nor what their purpose was.
Even Solomon, who possessed clairvoyance capable of seeing everything, and Gilgamesh, who possessed top-tier clairvoyance together with the Star of Revelation, had only glimpsed fragments of the truth, let alone anyone else.
In fact, aside from those two, King Hassan and Sakura, who had themselves been assigned missions by the Counter Force, none of the others involved in this Holy Grail War even knew the Counter Forces had intervened.
Not long after the two Counter Forces departed.
The true victor of this Holy Grail War, Marisbury, descended slowly from the sky with Artoria and arrived beside the Holy Grail Alaya had left behind.
Under Artoria's complicated gaze, Marisbury, as calm as ever and carrying himself like a noble young gentleman, stepped forward and lifted the Holy Grail... Then he furrowed his brow tightly.
Crude, simple, completely forced together using only top-quality magic power...
In Marisbury's eyes, this Holy Grail was nothing but trash...
Trash with even less technical sophistication than those worthless Holy Grails used in Sub-Category Holy Grail Wars...
But even if it was trash devoid of any technical value, Marisbury had to admit that it could indeed grant his wish.
"Magic power from the Age of Gods... perhaps even ancient times... Hah~ This Holy Grail seems to hold no value whatsoever for constructing the Destiny System... Then grant my wish!"
The Holy Grail was raised high, and golden light bloomed alongside ancient magic power from the Star Core.
As the global financial system underwent a bizarre change without anyone in the world noticing...
In but an instant, Marisbury's assets underwent an astonishing transformation, and he became one of the world's wealthiest men...
Let the Mage's Association Descend into Chaos
The Genius in a Lord's Eyes—Zouken Matou
Money, this was the scent of money...
The day after the Holy Grail War ended.
Although the enormous insurance payouts Sakura had purchased had yet to arrive.
Sakura had already received the financial report Tsuruno Matou had stayed up all night preparing.
As she looked at the figures showing the Matou Family's expected income for the next quarter.
Sakura and even the air around her were filled with joy.
Of course, it was not that Sakura loved money that much. Unlike the impoverished Rin Tohsaka of the future, Sakura had no excessive obsession with wealth.
The reason Sakura was so happy so early in the morning.
Was entirely because of what money could bring her...
Orochimaru's core technologies, combined with resource investments regardless of cost—Sakura was incomparably eager to see the power that would erupt from that combination.
Sakura believed that as long as enough funds and resources were invested into Orochimaru, with the talent he possessed now that his horizons had broadened, it would not take long before Orochimaru's core technologies shook the entire Magecraft world.
And once the Magecraft world descended into chaos... an endless stream of Destiny Points would flow into Sakura's account.
Thus, Sakura did not care about money, but she truly needed it very badly.
While Sakura was happily fantasizing in her study about mountains of Destiny Points pouring into her account, about exchanging for anything she wanted and turning whatever tragedies she wished into happy endings.
In the courtyard of the Matou Residence, amid the natural fragrance of morning, Orochimaru personally began ‘teaching’ Shinji Matou again after several days.
Orochimaru appreciated Shinji's talent.
Though Shinji could not compare to Sasuke, the cheat-enabled disciple among his students, he was still far better than his other disciple, Anko.
However, some things could not rely entirely on talent. Relentless, arduous training was equally important.
Hand Seals and Body Techniques, for instance, could only become instinct through endless repetition.
Thus, at this stage, Orochimaru's guidance for Shinji mainly consisted of pointing out areas he could improve during his basic training.
Even that was enough to shock Tokiomi Tohsaka, who was seeing Orochimaru for the first time.
Although he could not yet see the whole picture, the scattered remarks Orochimaru made while instructing Shinji were enough for Tokiomi Tohsaka to recognize that Orochimaru had mastered an entirely new "supernatural" system.
And through those few remarks, Tokiomi Tohsaka also learned the name of that system—Chakra and ninjas.
What is Sakura trying to do... How could she take in someone this dangerous...?
From the perspective of a traditional magus, Orochimaru's systematic method of Chakra cultivation was indeed exceedingly dangerous.
The mainstream Magi of this world would never wish to see another force rise up and threaten the ruling status of Magi.
Once another systematic power capable of threatening the status of Magi appeared in this world, the Mage's Association would certainly launch a crusade against it.
A crusade was no small matter like a Sealing Designation. If the Mage's Association discovered Orochimaru, an entire Magus Legion would be sent to eliminate him.
Although Sakura had already been adopted out, and his interactions with her over this period had made Tokiomi Tohsaka's feelings toward her incredibly complicated.
As one of the rare Magi who still retained some humanity, Tokiomi Tohsaka might think according to magus logic, leading him to understand and perceive love very differently from ordinary people.
But there was no denying that Tokiomi Tohsaka genuinely loved his family.
Therefore, no matter how complicated Tokiomi Tohsaka's feelings toward Sakura were, even if he did not know how to face her, he absolutely did not wish for Sakura to be harmed...
"No, I have to warn Sakura... And... I must keep this secret!"
Tokiomi Tohsaka muttered involuntarily, his face becoming extremely grave. He wanted nothing more than to immediately tell Sakura about these unspoken rules of the Magecraft world and have her drive Orochimaru away or kill him. Yet in the next moment, near-despair appeared in his eyes.
At the entrance to the Matou Residence, Marisbury, having somehow silently opened the Matou Family's gate and pushing Kischur Zelretch, had already entered the courtyard of the Matou Residence.
Tokiomi Tohsaka's remaining hand secretly gripped a massive ruby inside his pocket.
Cold sweat had unknowingly formed on his face, and his entire body had gone stiff. Tokiomi Tohsaka appeared to have already prepared to risk his life for Sakura.
However, just as Tokiomi Tohsaka was nearly unable to endure the pressure brought by the two Lords and was about to make a move.
A cloud of black-gray smoke descended from the sky. Having noticed intruders entering the Garden, Sakura appeared within it hand in hand with Kurumi.
"Breaking into someone else's home without permission so early in the morning... Even for Lords of the Clock Tower, that is far too rude!"
Did Sakura not understand what would happen if the Mage's Association discovered Orochimaru?
She might not know as clearly as Tokiomi Tohsaka did, but Sakura could guess what the Mage's Association would probably do.
However, Sakura, who roughly understood why these two had come, was not especially worried about Orochimaru being exposed before Marisbury and Kischur Zelretch.
After all, Kischur Zelretch would be facing a mountain of trouble after the war. With his proud and upright personality, either he would not care about such provincial nonsense, or he would lead the crusade himself for the sake of so-called honor.
It would naturally be best if he did not care. But even if he intended to launch a crusade, Kischur Zelretch, who would be burdened with trouble for the next year or two, certainly would not have time for it.
As for Marisbury, now that he had money, he would most likely not concern himself with anything outside Chaldea.
"My apologies to Miss Sakura and to you, Kischur Zelretch, for arriving uninvited and trespassing upon your residence... However, we have reasons we had no choice but to come. Miss Sakura, may I ask... is Mr. Zouken Matou at home?"
"Zouken Matou..."
Sakura frowned slightly, confusion appearing on her face.
She truly could not understand why these two had come looking for Zouken Matou...
As though he had noticed Sakura's confusion, Marisbury immediately began explaining.
"It is like this. Both Kischur Zelretch and I believe the Command Seals created by Mr. Zouken Matou possess tremendous value. At the same time, those astonishing Command Seals allowed us to see Mr. Zouken Matou's extraordinary talent. Therefore, Kischur Zelretch and I hope to invite Mr. Zouken Matou to the Clock Tower for joint discussion and research..."
That was right!
The true genius Marisbury had mentioned to Kischur Zelretch that day was none other than—Zouken Matou.
Of course, the recorded geniuses in the image record Marisbury had shown Kischur Zelretch that day did not include only Zouken Matou. Sakura, who had defeated Zouken Matou, was naturally among them as well.
It was simply that, in the eyes of Marisbury and Kischur Zelretch, who did not know Zouken Matou's true nature as a five-hundred-year-old monster, Zouken Matou was the real genius!
As for Sakura... Though she was also exceptionally gifted and truly brilliant, because of her age, Marisbury and Kischur Zelretch could not help but associate her with a certain maiden at the Clock Tower...
Thus, Marisbury and Kischur Zelretch made the wrong judgment. They believed Sakura's power mainly came from the heritage of the Matou Family, a magus family that had been passed down for centuries...
Though they were not entirely wrong. It was just that Sakura did not rely on inheritance—she relied on cheats.
Bury Kiritsugu, Prepare to Head for Einzbern...
I guessed the beginning, but not the ending...
Sakura was not surprised that the two from the Clock Tower had come knocking after the war. She had analyzed this possibility back at the start of the Holy Grail War.
Before you continue