On the Road to Growth: Starlight Form-Wings of Light, Deploy! / I, Rin Tohsaka, in the Garden of Sinners: A Share of the Grail Before the Ceremony!

Section 44: Chapter 43: On Rin Tohsaka's Path to Growth—Starlight Form—Wings of Light Deploy

Night fell.

Kirei Kotomine led Fujino Asagami into a small roadside restaurant. Aside from the waiter and chef, the place was empty. After ordering a serving of "devilishly spicy" Mapo Tofu and a bowl of rice, he handed the menu to Fujino Asagami.

"What would you like?"

Fujino Asagami stared fixedly at Kirei Kotomine, afraid that the man before her might run away. Ever since meeting and speaking with Kirei Kotomine that evening, she had regarded him as a lifeline.

Fujino Asagami casually took the menu, yet her eyes did not leave Kirei Kotomine for even an instant. Still staring at him, she spoke to the waiter.

"The same as him!"

Hearing Fujino Asagami's answer, the waiter broke out in a sweat and tried to dissuade her.

"Miss, this gentleman ordered devilishly spicy Mapo Tofu. Are you sure you want the same?"

Fujino Asagami nodded and insisted.

"The same is fine."

Before long, the waiter brought out their food. After placing it before Kirei Kotomine and Fujino Asagami, he pulled out a nearby chair and sat down, staring at Fujino Asagami. The waiter planned to stop her immediately if she could not handle it.

Fujino Asagami did not even glance at the lava-like Mapo Tofu before her. She continued staring at Kirei Kotomine.

After taking a spoonful of Mapo Tofu, Kirei Kotomine nodded with faint satisfaction. Then, looking at the motionless Fujino Asagami, he said,

"You should eat too. This place tastes pretty good. Still, it falls a little short of Hongzhou Yansui Hall Taishan."

Fujino Asagami nodded and repeatedly scooped up the Mapo Tofu, stuffing it into her mouth.

The waiter stared at Fujino Asagami in shock. Compared to Kirei Kotomine, who had visited several times and ordered devilishly spicy Mapo Tofu every time, the waiter had never expected Fujino Asagami to be able to eat such monstrous food too. Since starting work at this restaurant, Fujino Asagami was only the second person the waiter had seen who could eat this kind of Mapo Tofu.

Of course, the waiter did not know that Fujino Asagami had never experienced spiciness. As a form of pain, it had vanished from her life alongside her congenital insensitivity to pain when she was young.

Kirei Kotomine smiled and nodded at Fujino Asagami. The more he looked at her, the more satisfied he became. The same hollow eyes as his, the same hollow heart, and she could eat this supreme treasure of mankind too. Fujino Asagami, you truly are my treasure!

After dinner, Fujino Asagami took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Carrying her schoolbag, she followed Kirei Kotomine out of the restaurant.

Kirei Kotomine strode down the silent street, occasionally turning to look at Fujino Asagami following quietly behind him. He considered taking Fujino Asagami to the local church for the night, then asking his father to find a solution for her congenital insensitivity to pain tomorrow.

Kirei Kotomine suddenly stopped and looked at Souren Araya, who had just emerged from an alley. Kirei Kotomine tensed his muscles, eager to move. Now wholly focused on "saving" Fujino Asagami, he was extremely impatient with Souren Araya's reappearance. Frowning, he said in a low voice,

"Souren Araya, I've already conveyed your words to Rin. What are you doing here now?"

"Kirei Kotomine, Fujino Asagami is my piece on the board. You cannot take her away."

Hearing Souren Araya's words, Kirei Kotomine silently lowered himself close to the ground, instantly darted behind Souren Araya, and viciously drove an elbow into his back.

Fujino Asagami stood frozen in place, at a loss as she watched Kirei Kotomine fight Souren Araya. She did not know what to do when she suddenly felt a hand rest on her shoulder.

"Are you the one Kirei wants to save so badly that he even ignored his own daughter?"

Fujino Asagami turned around. Touko stood beside her, a cigarette held in one hand while the other rested on Fujino Asagami's shoulder. The one who had just spoken was Rin, standing beside Touko.

Curious about the person Kirei Kotomine wanted to save even at the expense of neglecting his own daughter, Rin had sent familiars to follow Kirei Kotomine after he left. When night fell, her familiars discovered Souren Araya near Kirei Kotomine. Thinking Souren Araya was plotting something again, Rin hurriedly dragged Touko over.

When Fujino Asagami turned around, Rin's mouth twitched. Well, of course Rin knew Fujino Asagami's famous name. But no matter how hard she thought, she had never imagined that Kirei Kotomine would get involved with Fujino Asagami. The wind from my little butterfly's wings is far too strong, Rin grumbled to herself.

At the same time, Kirei Kotomine, who was fighting Souren Araya, also noticed Rin and Touko's arrival. He stepped back, pulling away from Souren Araya, and asked Rin,

"Why are you here, Rin?"

"Oh, I detected that 'monk's' magical energy. Touko and I happened to be nearby, so we came to take a look. Who knew we'd run into you? All right, Kirei, leave the rest to me. I have a score to settle with this 'monk.'"

As she spoke, Rin took out a notepad with a gemstone cover—the Shorthand Codex she had created. Touko, meanwhile, grabbed Fujino Asagami by the shoulder and pulled her behind herself.

Rin casually opened the Shorthand Codex, tore out a red note, and watched it transform into flames in midair, roaring toward Souren Araya.

"Immovable."

Rin watched the flames get blocked by a barrier without panicking. She tore out three notes of different colors: red for fire, yellow for earth, and green for wind.

Under the influence of magical energy, the concrete ground gathered into an irregular sphere floating in the air. Flames blazed across its surface, while powerful wind propelled the magical meteor onward, continuously accelerating it and fanning the flames ever higher.

Watching the meteor approach, Souren Araya calmly stretched out his hand in a Buddhist seal, planted his stance, and shouted,

"Immovable! Vajra! Serpent and Scorpion! Heavenly King! Crown Sutra! King Revealed!"

As six full layers of barriers appeared, the meteor was brought to a halt. Soon, after its magical energy was exhausted, only a pile of charred concrete fell to the ground.

Rin shook her head at the blocked magecraft, dissatisfied as she stuffed the Shorthand Codex back into her shoulder bag.

Watching Rin stop, Souren Araya did not dare relax his guard. Maintaining his barrier, he said to Touko,

"Touko, do you intend to interfere?"

"I have no such intention. Even if I did, you would have to deal with Rin first. Don't underestimate her. She was only using you to test a Mystic Code just now. Look, it's about to begin."

Light. Countless lights. Ancient starlight gathered continuously around Rin as Touko finished speaking. This was the new magecraft Rin had developed by combining celestial magecraft with False Myth Magecraft—which she had evolved from False Fairy Tale Magecraft through studying Servants, myths, and various legends. It could enhance her in every aspect: Starlight Form.

As the starlight gathered, its brightness surpassed the limits of what human eyes could endure. Souren Araya could not help closing his eyes.

Having completed her magecraft, Rin called out the chant for the offensive formula unique to Starlight Form in a clear voice.

"Wings of Light Deploy!"

Recommended: "Honkai's Herrscher of Time"

Section 45: Chapter 44: Rin Tohsaka in Kara no Kyoukai—Starlight Form and Alba

Following Rin's chant, the starlight gathered around her body shifted behind her. From her back emerged ribbon after ribbon of starlight, forming enormous wings. Then, from every tip of those wings, the ribbons changed direction and extended without end, countless beams firing toward Souren Araya.

The starlight disintegrated everything in its path—air and ground alike—before directly striking Souren Araya's barriers. Under that assault, Souren Araya's Six Layers of Defense shattered after only a few seconds. Then came Souren Araya's body...

As the light faded, Fujino Asagami rubbed her eyes and looked carefully. Rin was now wrapped in a gauzy veil of starlight, with wings made of hundreds of starlight ribbons behind her. As the ribbons rose and fell, she floated lightly one meter above the ground, just like a goddess from myth.

Fujino Asagami gazed at Rin, who resembled a goddess, in fascination. Ripples spread through her hollow heart.

Rin slowly stopped releasing magical energy and dispelled the starlight. She descended as lightly as a feather, looking at the ground that her magecraft had disintegrated and at Souren Araya's battered body lying riddled with holes. Raising both hands, she stared at them in disbelief. Did I really do this?

It was Rin Tohsaka's first time using Starlight Form, and she had never expected the magecraft she envisioned to be so powerful. With Starlight Form, Rin could probably even fight combat-oriented Magi of Color rank.

While Rin marveled at her Starlight Form, Touko walked over to Souren Araya, crouched down, and discovered after a brief examination that this was not Souren Araya's real body. Touko roughly inserted a finger into the wound in the corpse's head, then brought the finger stained with brain matter before her eyes and carefully observed it, immediately understanding.

Then Touko turned to Rin and said,

"Rin, this isn't my old classmate. It should be a puppet body under his control."

Touko showed Rin her brain-stained finger.

"Look, this brain matter clearly belongs to two people. My old classmate also happens to be an expert at transferring consciousness through brain matter."

Rin looked disgustedly at the brain matter on Touko's hand, covered her small mouth, and dry-heaved.

"Touko, don't show me something so disgusting!"

Touko shook her head. Since when had I forgotten that Rin was still just a little girl? She then wiped her brain-stained finger on the corpse's clothes.

At that moment, Kirei Kotomine led Fujino Asagami over to Rin.

"Rin, I plan to take Fujino Asagami to the church now. Do you need me to cover up what happened here?"

Rin looked at the street her magecraft had destroyed and nodded to Kirei Kotomine.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Kirei."

"Mm. Kallian and Shirou will be in your care for the time being as well..."

Garan no Dou.

In the room assigned to Kallian and Shirou, Kallian sat on the edge of the bed, viciously mocking her "older brother."

"You foolish big brother, do you realize how stupid your actions this afternoon were? If you had angered them then, we might already be corpses. No, Kirei might have been the first to attack us. You foolish big brother, do you understand?"

Shirou Emiya awkwardly scratched his head and said sheepishly,

"Well, Kallian, surely not. Why would Father attack us? Rin might be a violent woman, but she wouldn't go so far as to kill someone."

Kallian rolled her eyes helplessly at Shirou Emiya, despairing at this naïve fool who had only just begun to touch the world of magecraft.

"You foolish big brother, we are in the world of magecraft, not the world of ordinary people. Have you forgotten the Fuyuki 'earthquake' four years ago?"

Shirou Emiya's pupils constricted. How could he forget? The towering flames, the flowing Black Mud, the fleeing crowds, his home reduced to rubble, and his biological parents collapsed at his feet. Shirou Emiya clenched his fists.

"That was caused by Magi?"

Seeing Shirou's bloodshot eyes, Kallian jumped down from the bed and walked before him. She raised a finger and flicked his forehead hard. Watching Shirou Emiya emerge from his memories, she nodded with satisfaction.

"Yes. And the ones who caused all of it were acquaintances of ours. But foolish big brother, do you truly want to know?"

Shirou Emiya looked up at Kallian and nodded.

Seeing the serious look on Shirou Emiya's face, Kallian slowly began recounting the past of the Holy Grail that she had heard from Risei Kirei.

"Rin, Father, Uncle Tokiomi, the Holy Grail, All the World's Evil... So that's how it was. Kallian, do you think that once All the World's Evil and the Holy Grail are destroyed, things like that will never happen again?"

"Don't you want revenge, foolish big brother?"

Shirou Emiya calmly shook his head.

"I don't think that way. From the day Father pulled me out of those ruins, I made up my mind. I will follow Father and become a hero of justice who saves others."

Kallian looked at Shirou Emiya as he firmly declared his dream and murmured,

"A hero who saves others? Do your best, big brother. Kallian will support you too."

In a cemetery on the outskirts of Kanfushi City.

Souren Araya slowly turned his head and looked at the figure who had just entered the cemetery.

"Souren Araya, your taste is as awful as ever. You actually chose this place to meet me. Tell me, where is Touko?"

"Cornelius Alba, don't be hasty. Facing Touko as you are now would be nothing but suicide. You need a large number of people."

Hearing Souren Araya's words, Alba fixed him with a vicious glare.

"Souren Araya, what do you mean? Weren't you the one who informed me that Touko was hiding here? Do you think I'm weaker than Touko?"

"No, Alba. Touko is no longer alone. The Fifth Magus, the Fairy Tale Witch, and that genius girl Rin Tohsaka are all by her side now."

Upon hearing that several famous figures of the magecraft world were beside Touko, Alba began to retreat inwardly.

Cornelius Alba was fifty years old, yet appeared to be a young man in his twenties. His abilities as a Magus were first-rate. He had no interest in The Root Vortex, believing it was enough to pursue the realm of mystery. He was also one of the rare Magi who believed there was no need to seek the Root.

Seeing Alba's hesitation, Souren Araya recalled this information, then slowly spoke to the conflicted Alba.

"Alba, I have now found a path to the Root. If you can keep Touko and the others from interfering with my plan while I carry it out, then once I finish it, I will help you kill Touko in return!"

Hearing Souren Araya's proposal, Alba remained conflicted instead of agreeing as readily as Souren Araya expected. The warning from the Second Magic and the pressure of making enemies with the Fifth Magus were simply too great.

After much hesitation, Alba asked Souren Araya,

"Souren Araya, tell me your entire plan. I must confirm it before I can make a decision..."

Section 46: Chapter 45: Rin Tohsaka in Kara no Kyoukai—Before the Holy Grail Ritual and Getting a Share!

The Holy Grail War—or rather, the Great Swindler War—was a ritual that gathered massive amounts of magical energy to create an "omnipotent wish-granter," deceiving Heroic Spirits with "regrets" from life into sending down incarnations to fight over that "omnipotent wish-granter."

Garan no Dou.

Rin was intently studying how to use as little magical energy as possible to deceive Servants into descending for the shabby Holy Grail War she and Touko were planning.

Yes, shabby. It had neither the grand rituals and frenzied draining of leyline magical energy of other pseudo Holy Grail Wars, nor the refined system and Third Magic enhancement of the authentic Holy Grail War. All it had was a broken cup left behind by the Fourth Holy Grail War and a few Magi trying to scam Servants.

Just as inspiration struck Rin, that familiar feeling of being watched came from outside the window again. For some unknown reason, a large number of Magi had openly arrived in Kanfushi City over the past few days. They would even occasionally sneak outside Garan no Dou to peer inside. They could not be driven away completely, nor could they be killed off entirely.

Irritated, Rin threw down her pen and angrily walked to the window. Taking out several jewels, she chanted Jewel Magecraft and repeatedly fired Jewel Magic Bullets at the floor of the building opposite where someone was spying.

Touko had sold off and squandered all the jewels Rin had paid her half a month ago. Now back in dire straits, Touko watched Rin waste money so recklessly and trembled with heartache.

Rin, don't use those on them! Is there any need to waste so many jewels on Magi of this level?