Shirou said in confusion, "What's going on today? Makiri, you're acting really strange."
"Hm-hm-hm, Master, it's actually like this."
Lady Avalon leaned close to the boy's ear and whispered merrily:
"It's because I appeared—someone both outstanding and perfect, beautiful and brilliant—so Mr. Makiri feels he has no chance to shine. He's throwing a tantrum."
"Is that true, old man?"
"That's not it!"
"Don't be shy, Mr. Makiri."
"I said it isn't!"
Little Yellow Duck hummed, "In any case, our most urgent task should be forming an alliance and choosing suitable allies to fight the remaining enemies, rather than having the brat fight them."
Shirou said, "That may be true, but who would be willing to form an alliance with us?"
Lady Avalon looked delighted. "Hehehe, I think plenty of girls would be willing to form an alliance with Master."
Shirou asked in confusion, "Why?"
The silver-haired beauty covered her lips, leaving only a meaningful and alluring smile visible.
You're still young, but the signs of your 'misfortune with women' have already begun to show. My adorable Little Master.
Volume One 033: The Strange Day of a Murderer
The strategy meeting ultimately produced no results.
Lady Avalon and Makiri kept trading barbs, locked in fierce opposition, and failed to come to any sensible conclusion.
However, they had barely managed to reach a consensus on the need to form an alliance.
Makiri suggested seeking an alliance with the Tohsaka Family.
With the advantage of fighting on his home turf, as well as being the head of a super-elite magus clan, Tokiomi Tohsaka was the strongest candidate for victory in this Holy Grail War.
Moreover, given that man's personality and character, even if he ultimately lost, he was unlikely to have his life taken.
Lady Avalon, however, had a different opinion.
If they were going to form an alliance, they should find a faction whose strength was close to their own. That way, they would not end up being manipulated by others.
Both sides had sound reasoning, and Shirou naturally understood the difference between their ways of thinking.
Makiri believed that "staying alive" was the most important thing. Even if they lost this time, there would still be another chance sixty years later.
Lady Avalon, on the other hand, believed that "winning!" was the most important thing. There would be no next time. This time, she was going to win, win, and keep winning until the very end.
Even regarding the life-consuming side effect of Dead Count Shapeshifter, she had merely waved it off and said, "As long as we win in the end, it's fine, right? Master can wish for an ageless and immortal body then~"
Neither side was wrong. The final decision-maker was Shirou.
Three days later, Shirou arrived at an audiovisual goods store in the shopping district.
In the final stage of preparing for the war, he still planned to buy some things that might come in handy during the Holy Grail War.
After buying what he wanted, Shirou walked home.
Just then, a young man brushed past him...
Ryunosuke Uryu possessed an extraordinary obsession with death.
Death was the one thing that could never be experienced while alive, no matter what.
At the same time, he seemed to possess an unusually sharp ability to distinguish genuine death from fake death.
To him, violent and bloody movies were truly laughable.
The plots and the visuals were childish in every respect.
There was not even the slightest chance of experiencing the so-called "essence of death" through such things.
Although people often claimed that fictional depictions of violence had a harmful influence on adolescents, to Ryunosuke Uryu, such claims were nothing more than ridiculous nonsense.
If the blood and screams in horror movies had been portrayed just a little more realistically, perhaps he would not have become what he was now.
Not real enough. Not real enough. Not real enough!
The color of blood spraying from an artery, the warmth of organs touched by hand, and then the act of ripping them out in one pull.
The pain felt by the victim before death, and the desperate wailing at the moment of death.
Ah... Becoming a murderer had truly been wonderful.
Nothing was more real than killing someone with his own hands.
People believed murder was a crime, but Ryunosuke Uryu possessed a peculiar way of thinking far removed from that of ordinary people.
There were more than six billion human beings on Earth, and millions of them died every day.
Compared to that figure, the number of people he had killed was insignificant.
He believed that when he killed someone, he completely allowed that person to understand every aspect of death.
Compared with prolonging a worthless life, the information, stimulation, and experience brought about by that one person's death were far more meaningful.
He was an artist.
Holding to that belief, Ryunosuke traveled throughout Japan while killing people without pause.
The streets at night were Ryunosuke's hunting grounds, and his prey never sensed his threat before being captured.
The number of victims in his hands had now surpassed thirty. They had experienced every kind of execution and torture method in human history.
However, even a murderous fiend like Ryunosuke Uryu had recently fallen into the trouble of lacking freshness.
In order to return to the beginning and recapture the feelings he had once possessed, Ryunosuke returned to his hometown, which he had been away from for five years.
In the warehouse where his sister (a corpse) quietly awaited him, he dug out a Western book in Chinese filled with words such as "demons," "Satan," and "spirit summoning."
With his passion reignited, Ryunosuke Uryu immediately went to the city the book called the "Land of Spiritual Veins"—Fuyuki City.
Next came the preparations for the demonic ritual.
Sacrifices?
Of course he had to choose girls or children!!
Ryunosuke Uryu excitedly wandered around the streets and quickly picked out a target.
No, to be precise, the other party had delivered himself right to Ryunosuke's door.
As the elementary schoolboy brushed past him, Ryunosuke Uryu heard him mutter, "Smells awful."
What a foul-mouthed brat!
I'm an artist! I take three baths every day—morning, noon, and night. How could I possibly have body odor?
Could you smell the stench of blood on me?
Ryunosuke Uryu stopped and turned toward the red-haired boy, enthusiastically inviting him to come play at his place.
"Big brother has some pretty things over there. Want to come play?"
"Mm, I want to go."
The red-haired boy agreed without the slightest hesitation.
What an idiot, Ryunosuke Uryu snickered inwardly.
And so, he brought the red-haired boy "home."
The moment he entered, the boy was so frightened by the apartment's stench and the remains of corpses strewn across the floor that he could not speak.
It was a family Ryunosuke Uryu had killed for amusement when he first arrived in Fuyuki City. A week had already passed, and the blood had long since dried into black.
"Haha! Now you know how powerful I am!"
Ryunosuke Uryu expertly bound the red-haired boy's hands.
Excellent. Tonight, I'll use this arrogant brat as the living sacrifice for my ritual... Huh?
Ryunosuke Uryu lowered his head in confusion.
Strange. Why is there a sword stuck in my chest?
"..."
He suddenly noticed a gaze and raised his head. Instantly, he flew into a rage.
Hey, brat! What's with that look in your eyes?
Don't look at me like that again... Wait, where are your ropes?
I clearly tied up both your hands properly. Why...
Forget it... There have really been a lot of strange things today...
What a... truly... strange... day...
"—Thud."
Ryunosuke Uryu collapsed into the pool of blood with a muffled sound.
"Ugh..."
When he woke again, everything around him was pitch-black.
"I feel like I had a really strange dream. What was it again? Eh, forget it... My head hurts~~~"
Clutching his head as if it were about to split apart, Ryunosuke Uryu groped his way up from the floor.
When he focused his eyes, he saw that the hands of the clock on the wall already pointed to twelve.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no! I need to hurry! I actually slept on the floor for an entire day!
"I'm supposed to perform the ritual tonight. Forget not having enough time to prepare a living sacrifice!"
Ryunosuke Uryu scrambled about and began carrying out his plan.
"Wahahaha, how lucky! There's fresh blood here! Cooooool~!"
The owner of this house had clearly been dead for more than a week, yet a large amount of fresh blood had appeared. No matter how one looked at it, something was wrong.
But Ryunosuke Uryu neither cared nor suspected anything.
No—perhaps his brain had already become incapable of performing even the "most basic logical thinking."
The young man drew a summoning circle on the floor with the mysterious blood while chanting under his breath.
"Close off, close off, close off, close off, close off. Repeat each four times... Huh? Was it five times? Eh, forget it..."
The murderous young man happily enjoyed the magical ritual, about to encounter the greatest meeting of his fate.
However, Ryunosuke Uryu—or rather—
The "thing" that had once been Ryunosuke Uryu seemed completely unaware that its heart had long since stopped beating and its body temperature had vanished.
Volume One 034: What Are "Ordinary" and "Only Natural"? (6/6)
When he walked out of the apartment, it was 5:50 p.m., just before nightfall.
"Big sister, you're here, right?"
Shirou whispered toward the empty space beside him.
A response soon came.
Before you continue