Shocking! Has Worm Grandpa Turned Over a New Leaf? (100-Follower Bonus Chapter) (Continued)

"Is that Sakura?" Zouken Matou recognized the voice at once. He grinned and laughed.

"Grandpa?" Sakura took two steps back at the sound of his voice, dropping the Black Keys to the ground and covering her mouth.

"What do you want?" Shirou asked warily. Zouken before him was a dangerous figure—the one who had personally plotted to turn Sakura into the Black Grail in the Heaven's Feel route. There was nothing wrong with being careful.

"You still can't rest easy even after defeating someone yourself? How small-minded."

"My principle is to make sure my enemies are dead beyond dead. If you weren't Sakura's grandfather, you'd already be puppet fragments." Shirou rolled his eyes. He had kindly spared the man, only to be mocked for it. He decided that later, he would toss Zouken's corpse into the Miyuan River to feed the fish.

"Just as expected of Kiritsugu's son. Then you'd better learn his ruthlessness. To become an Ally of Justice, abandon Sakura, abandon everything, abandon your sister."

"I stopped being an Ally of Justice years ago. I tossed it into the trash to feed the dogs." Shirou warily projected Guan Yu and Mo Ye. If anyone tried anything again, he would chop off Grandpa Zouken's head in one stroke.

"Is that so? Fine, then. Sakura, kill me." Zouken Matou said something that shocked both Sakura and Shirou. He wanted Sakura to kill him?

"Grandpa?" Sakura shook her head and took another two steps back, her mind going blank.

"Kill me. I wronged you in the past, so this is only right. It would be better for you to deal with me yourself than leave it to someone else. You're going to fight in the Holy Grail War. It is a war where almost none of the previous participants survived. Do you understand?" Zouken closed his eyes and spoke words that sent chills down their spines.

"Remember this feeling. Otherwise, when the time comes, you might not have the courage to strike, and you'll drag this young man down with you. Hmm? Young man, what's your name?"

"Shirou. Shirou Emiya." Seeing that Zouken no longer seemed threatening, Shirou answered. Still, the way the old man was using him to pressure Sakura left Shirou displeased.

Sakura's hands trembled. Her lips opened and closed as though she wanted to say something, but no words came out.

Her brother had died today, and on that very same day, she had to witness something like this again?

"How about I do it instead?" Shirou understood that this was still too cruel for Sakura. The Shinji and Zouken of this world did not seem as loathsome as the ones from the other timeline; otherwise, Sakura would not have hesitated to act.

"No, I'll do it." Sakura closed her eyes. After taking a deep breath, she opened them again and picked up the Black Keys from the ground.

"This is surprising. You've actually stopped clinging to the Grail. Have you abandoned five hundred years of obsession as well?" Shirou glanced at Grandpa Zouken, who was preparing to die by Sakura's hand.

"You knew? Heh heh. In a sense, being made into a puppet was a good thing. It freed me from that obsession." Watching white snow drift through the dark sky, Zouken smiled. "It's just that I regained my senses too late."

"I used magecraft to keep extending my life. But in the process, I discovered that I had lost my original purpose. I was merely prolonging my life for the sake of prolonging it. My soul was damaged because of it, and my old memories were worn away."

"You should be careful too." Zouken gave a quiet laugh.

For an instant, Shirou felt as though he had been seen through. The old man seemed to have noticed something, but crossing worlds was not something Shirou could control. How could he be any more careful?

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

"Mm." Shirou stepped aside.

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

The Black Key pierced Zouken. Sakura closed her eyes in pain.

Suddenly, she felt warmth surround her. When she raised her head, she saw Shirou.

"Senior, I..." Sakura murmured, but tears began to stream down her face before she could finish.

"Don't be so upset. 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.

"Einzbern toyed with the souls of the dead and placed them inside puppets. Toying with the bodies of the dead is already vile enough, but to toy with their souls is even more despicable. Killing him was the only way to free him." As Shirou spoke, he stroked Sakura's hair. "If you must hate someone, hate Einzbern. Only by destroying them can you truly avenge them."

Sakura nodded, though she still looked dazed.