Shirou's Grand Heroic Saga

"Is that Sakura?" Zouken Matou recognized her voice immediately. His mouth split into a grin.

"Grandpa?" Sakura took two steps back upon hearing the voice, dropping the Black Keys to the ground as she covered her mouth.

"What do you want?" Shirou asked warily. Zouken Matou was a dangerous individual, the one who personally orchestrated Sakura's transformation into the Black Grail in the Heaven's Feel route. Caution was always warranted.

"Can't you even trust someone you've already defeated? You truly have no magnanimity," Zouken mocked Shirou.

"My principle is to ensure enemies are dead beyond any possibility of return. If you weren't Sakura's grandfather, you'd already be shattered into puppet fragments," Shirou retorted, rolling his eyes. He'd spared him out of kindness and was now being mocked for it. He decided then and there to throw Zouken's corpse into the Miya River to feed the fish.

"Truly Kiritsugu's son. Then you must learn his unscrupulous methods. To become an Ally of Justice, abandon Sakura, abandon everything, abandon your sister."

"I haven't been an Ally of Justice for many years now. Threw that garbage out to the dogs," Shirou said, warily projecting Guan Yu and Mo Ye. If anyone else showed up, he'd chop Grandpa Zouken's head off.

"Is that so? That's fine then. Sakura, kill me," Zouken Matou uttered words that shocked both Sakura and Shirou. He wanted Sakura to kill him?

"Grandpa?" Sakura shook her head, retreating two more steps, her mind completely blank.

"Kill me. I wronged you in the past, so this is only fitting. It's better if you finish me yourself than for someone else to do it. You are fighting the Holy Grail War, a war where almost no past participants survived, do you understand?" Zouken closed his eyes, saying words that sent a chill down their spines.

"Remember this feeling. Otherwise, if you lack the courage to act when the time comes, you'll drag this young man down with you. Hmm? Young man, what's your name?"

"Shirou. Emiya Shirou." Shirou answered, seeing that Zouken posed no immediate threat. However, the thought of him using this situation to coerce Sakura left Shirou feeling somewhat displeased.

Sakura's hands trembled, her mouth opening and closing as if she wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

Her brother had died today, and on the same day, she was to witness such a scene again?

"Perhaps I should do it," Shirou understood that this was still too cruel for Sakura. Shinji and Zouken in this world didn't seem as detestable as in the other timeline, or Sakura wouldn't be unable to bring herself to do it.

"No, I'll do it." Sakura closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them, picking up the Black Keys from the ground.

"Truly surprising. You're no longer fixated on the Holy Grail? You've abandoned five hundred years of obsession?" Shirou glanced at Grandpa Zouken, who was about to be killed by Sakura.

"You know? Heh. In a sense, becoming a puppet was a good thing for me. It made me lose that obsession." Zouken smiled, looking at the white snow falling in the dark sky. "It's just that regaining my senses came too late."

"I used magic to keep myself alive. But in the process, I discovered I had lost my original purpose, simply living for the sake of living. My soul was damaged, and my original memories were worn away."

"You should be careful too," Zouken chuckled softly.

At that moment, Shirou felt as if he had been seen through. The old man seemed to have discovered something, but he couldn't control the fact that he had transmigrated. How could he be any more careful?

"Senpai, I'm going to do it," Sakura signaled.

"Mm." Shirou moved back several paces.

"Thank you. Stay with Emiya and win the Holy Grail War."

The Black Keys pierced Zouken, and Sakura closed her eyes in pain.

Suddenly, she felt a warmth spread through her body. She looked up to see Shirou.

"Senpai, I..." Sakura stammered, but halfway through her words, tears began to flow.

"Don't be so distressed. Your grandfather's death isn't a bad thing; it's a good thing." Shirou looked at Zouken, who had turned into a puppet on the ground, and held Sakura tighter.

"The Einzberns toy with the souls of the dead, placing them within puppets. Toying with the bodies of the deceased is already extremely vile, but toying with souls is even more despicable. Killing him was the only way to grant him release," Shirou said, stroking Sakura's hair. "If you want to hate someone, hate the Einzberns. Only by eliminating them can you truly avenge them."

Sakura nodded, but she still seemed dazed.