Type-Moon, I, Sakura Matou, Rewrite Destiny

Sakura Matou wanted Zouken Matou's help to achieve her plan of becoming the Winter Saintess.

The old worm currently available was definitely no good...

Therefore, Sakura Matou had to bring back the Makiri Zolgen of the past, the one who once held noble ideals.

If it were before the Holy Grail War, the only way Sakura Matou could achieve this goal would be to use Destiny Points to exchange for a person or item capable of restoring a corrupted soul to "save" Zouken Matou.

However, now... Sakura Matou could accomplish it without expending precious Destiny Points.

Zouken Matou was taken out of his bottle and controlled by the Harry-style Magecraft "Petrify All" onto a protruding rock.

"Kurumi sister... please!"

"Fourth Bullet..."

Fourth Bullet—reverses the target's time.

This was the effect of the Fourth Bullet.

With a thump... a bullet wrapped in spiritual power and temporal energy struck the plump, fat worm that was Zouken Matou...

As a light enveloped Zouken Matou... his time began to rapidly reverse.

One day... one year... ten years... a hundred years...

Time flowed continuously, and astonishing changes occurred simultaneously on the worm that was Zouken Matou...

Until the dust settled.

Zouken Matou returned, handsome and resolute, bearing a resemblance to Shinji as an adult...

Shame, regret, and pain... his body and soul had returned to five hundred years ago, but his memories had not vanished.

Facing his actions over the past five hundred years, facing the path he had strayed from his ideals after his soul had rotted... Zouken Matou knelt silently before the Great Holy Grail.

"Justiça... I have become evil..."

Sakura Matou, watching quietly as Zouken Matou, who had lost the will to live and was engulfed in endless shame, regret, and pain, knew that Zouken Matou had a great deal he wanted to confide to the Winter Saintess—Justiça. She chose not to disturb him.

Instead, she chose to stand quietly by, allowing Zouken Matou to have his final confession...

PS: There will be a few more updates tonight...

68. 'Guardian of the Great Holy Grail'

A mouthful of turbid blood was spat out.

Kneeling before the Great Holy Grail and pouring out his heart for over ten minutes, Zouken Matou's already dilapidated body could no longer hold on.

After all, the body Zouken Matou was currently using was merely a makeshift creation by Orochimaru half a year ago.

It was remarkable that it had lasted this long.

However, Zouken Matou paid no mind to his dire physical condition.

Feeling that his time was running out, Zouken Matou, filled with shame and regret, now only yearned for salvation... and coincidentally, Sakura Matou's proposed Winter Saintess plan was his best chance for redemption.

Slowly getting up from the ground, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Zouken Matou, his face etched with shame, looked at Sakura Matou... After a moment of hesitation, he spoke with deep guilt.

"Sakura Matou... may I call you that?"

"Call me whatever you wish... Makiri Zolgen."

"I know my sins cannot be atoned for... but I still beg you... please allow me..."

"You want to take the place of the Winter Saintess, right."

Sakura Matou interrupted Zouken Matou, a hint of hesitation appearing in her eyes as she looked at his guilt-ridden, salvation-seeking expression.

Sakura Matou had naturally guessed what Zouken Matou's request was.

But... Sakura Matou hesitated on whether to agree.

According to Sakura Matou's original plan, after the Winter Saintess fused with Irisviel, she would not only potentially gain a subpar Third Magic user but also gain some degree of control over the Great Holy Grail through Irisviel.

And with Illya in her hands, Sakura Matou did not worry about Irisviel turning against her one day.

But if she agreed to Zouken Matou's request... this plan would require another addition. After taking the remaining soul fragments of the Winter Saintess from the Great Holy Grail, she would also have to send Zouken Matou in.

Letting him take over as the new administrative intelligence of the Great Holy Grail, becoming the Heavenly Saintess...

Although, it was highly likely that the current Zouken Matou, after fusing with the Great Holy Grail, could help Sakura Matou better control it. But all of this hinged on... Zouken Matou not betraying her.

After a long period of contemplation, Sakura Matou finally shook her head, decisively rejecting Zouken Matou's request.

"I refuse. I cannot trust you within such a short timeframe, and I will not choose to make you the administrative intelligence of the Great Holy Grail..."

A deeper layer of sorrow settled on his face. Zouken Matou, who had intended to wash away all his emotions and enter the Great Holy Grail in place of the Winter Saintess, hoping that one day someone would use him to cleanse his sins.

But now... just as Zouken Matou was silently preparing to return to the earth after helping Sakura Matou resolve her matters, carrying his sins with him, Sakura Matou's voice echoed in his ears once more.

"However, while I won't entrust the Great Holy Grail to you, I can agree to let you become its guardian."

"Guardian of the Great Holy Grail..."

"Yes, the guardian of the Great Holy Grail... I can transform you into an earthbound spirit, eternally bound to the Great Holy Grail, to protect it forever... How about it?"

Guarding the Great Holy Grail... this might also be a form of atonement for Zouken Matou, or perhaps Zouken Matou still harbored a hope of witnessing firsthand someone fulfill his ideals through the Holy Grail... In any case, Zouken Matou did not hesitate for long before nodding in agreement to Sakura Matou's proposal of becoming the Great Holy Grail's guardian.

However, Zouken Matou also proposed his own conditions during this time...

He wished for Sakura to sever the five hundred years of memories and all emotions within his soul...

Just as Sakura's plan for the Winter Saintess was in full swing.

Over at the Clock Tower, following Kischur Zelretch's half-crippled return, the entire Clock Tower's calm surface had become turbulent after a few days of brewing.

El-Melloi was undoubtedly seen as a prize by many at this moment.

However, the storm at the Clock Tower had yet to break. After all, when Kischur Zelretch returned, Marisbury, who hoped to accelerate the Chaldea Plan with his help, had not left his side. At the same time, Kischur Zelretch's mentor had also immediately moved to 'protect' him...

Therefore, for the time being, Kischur Zelretch and El-Melloi were safe...

But temporary safety did not mean future safety. Similarly, the Holy Grail War, which could turn the renowned genius and Lord of the Clock Tower, Kischur Zelretch, into such a state, also fell into the eyes of some interested parties as news began to leak after Kischur Zelretch's return.

The Three Founding Families of the Holy Grail War and the remote eastern land of Fuyuki City... were naturally also being targeted by some interested parties without them even realizing it.

Just as Sakura was carrying out the Winter Saintess plan underground.

On the banks of the Miyou River, on the battlefield that had been burned to ruins.

A silent battle was quietly unfolding.

She clenched her fist without making a sound.

A red-haired woman dressed as a traveler, looking somewhat travel-worn, swept her gaze lightly. Immediately, four or five "mercenary" mages, hired by some unknown force and who had come to Fuyuki City, were spotted by this red-haired woman.

However, just as the woman unconsciously tensed her muscles, preparing to teach these insignificant trash a lesson.

Suddenly, a scream erupted from the ruins.

Following that, a strange beast's roar and the sound of something being chewed rang out.

A pungent smell of blood, and a mage whose body was missing a small half of its parts, stumbled directly into the woman's line of sight.

The next second, before the mage could even beg for help from the woman, a flat, shadow-like "black cat" hissed and caught up to him, then swallowed his entire upper body into its mouth.

The crisp sound of high heels clicking on the ground then rang out. An orange-haired woman, tall and very similar in appearance to the red-haired woman, but with a completely different aura, appeared in the red-haired woman's vision, closely followed by the strange black cat.

"Long time no see... Did you come specifically for me?"

"I considered it, but I gave up... I just came to take a look."

"What a shame... I was hoping to test your progress over the years..."

While saying she was disappointed, the orange-haired woman, who clearly didn't care, took out a cigarette from her shirt pocket and lazily lit it without regard for the red-haired woman's reaction.

"I'm ready to fight anytime..."

"Tch, you really have the nerve to say that, Aoko. This time you don't have the help of Arisu or that strange wild man..."

PS: There should be two more chapters today, the rest will continue tomorrow... (＃^.^＃)

69. The Aozaki Sisters and the Bursting Magical Power...

In a small alley in Fuyuki City, a Chinese restaurant that exuded an aura of authenticity.

A priest and two women with peculiar red and orange hair sat shoulder-to-shoulder in the small shop, savoring the profound Chinese cuisine.

Looking with slight shock at the priest, who was still bandaged, he spooned the mapo tofu, which resembled hellish lava, into his mouth.

Although the food in his mouth was fragrant and delicious.

Upon witnessing this scene, the red-haired woman—the Fifth Magic User, Aoko Aozaki—found the food in her mouth as tasteless as chewing wax.

However, the orange-haired magus beside her, Touko Aozaki, seemed unfazed.

She showed no surprise at Kirei Kotomine's act of devouring mapo tofu.

Quickly swallowing the food in her mouth, she leaned in and whispered to Touko, "Hey, where did you find this weird priest?"

Touko, seemingly amused by her sister Aoko's question, put down her chopsticks and rolled her eyes at her, saying somewhat helplessly, "Where else? You should be able to tell from his appearance."

"...As expected, it's the Church again, do they always have weirdos coming from that place..."

Touko nodded in agreement with Aoko on this point, clearly showing her concurrence.

In the eyes of these two bickering sisters, the Holy Church indeed often produced some strange individuals.

Kirei Kotomine, the person in question, paid no mind to the sisters' direct discussion.

At this moment, he seemed to be truly and wholeheartedly engrossed in his battle with the mapo tofu.

Even being called a "weirdo" by the two women, Kirei Kotomine showed no reaction.

Just as the two sisters were using Kirei Kotomine as a topic to start their first sisterly chat in many years.

Suddenly... both Touko Aozaki and Aoko Aozaki's expressions changed, becoming solemn.

"You feel it too?"

"Mm... In that direction, a surprisingly vast amount of magical power!"

The sudden appearance of immense magical power in Fuyuki City was naturally not only sensed by this pair of sisters. Many mages and magi backed by various factions, as well as those who had come to try their luck after hearing the news, also sensed it.

After all, anyone with even a little understanding of Magecraft could sense the astonishingly vast magical energy from a fluctuation of that magnitude.

At the Zenjo Villa, serving as the Tohsaka family's temporary residence, a considerable distance from Fuyuki City.

When the incredible surge of magical energy erupted from Fuyuki City, Tokiomi Tohsaka, who was enjoying the early spring sun with his wife and daughter in the villa's garden, naturally sensed it as well.

Looking in the direction of the magical energy's outburst, the words "Mount Enzou" instantly came to Tokiomi Tohsaka's mind.

Tokiomi Tohsaka, who usually monitored the Great Holy Grail's status through the Ley Lines, had never visited its location, Mount Enzou, in his life. However, as a member of the Three Founding Families, he naturally knew the Great Holy Grail's precise location.

Therefore, upon identifying the general area of the magical energy surge, Tokiomi Tohsaka's first thought was that the Great Holy Grail was in trouble.

However, he quickly dismissed this assumption.

"No... the Great Holy Grail wouldn't have problems like this for no reason... it's probably Sakura!"

"Sakura? Dad... what's wrong with Sakura?"

Putting down her textbooks for the next semester, Rin Tohsaka, who was sitting beside Tokiomi Tohsaka and reviewing her studies, couldn't help but jump up upon hearing her sister's name. She looked eagerly at her father.

Although she had only been separated from Sakura for a few days, Rin Tohsaka, knowing that there were "enemies" around her sister who intended to take her away, had become exceptionally sensitive about Sakura.

Thus, the moment Tokiomi Tohsaka mentioned Sakura's name, Rin Tohsaka became agitated and couldn't help but grab his sleeve, asking him what was wrong with Sakura.

However, the excited Rin Tohsaka at this moment did not notice the expression on Tokiomi Tohsaka's face.

Fortunately, Aoi Tohsaka, who was organizing some documents nearby, understood the look on Tokiomi Tohsaka's face at that moment. She immediately put down her papers, stood up, and pulled Rin Tohsaka aside.

"Rin, don't make a fuss... your father is thinking."

She turned to look at Tokiomi Tohsaka, whose brow was furrowed in thought.