Dating Caster

"Uncle, you're not well right now, you should save your strength," the boy insisted stubbornly. "When we get a chance, we'll escape!"

"Mm, escape..."

Wang Xiaoming sighed, barely managing to reach out and ruffle the boy's hair, silently apologizing in his heart:

[Sorry, the uncle you're talking about is nothing but a coward.]

[So cold--]

[This must be the normal reaction before death.]

"Fill, fill, fill..."

[What is this? There's a familiar... feeling?]

The sound reaching his ears made Wang Xiaoming, whose consciousness was already fading, experience a strange sense of... déjà vu?

"Cycle and repeat, next is... five."

"Huh? Uncle?"

Hearing Wang Xiaoming suddenly speak, half-conscious and half-delirious, the boy was overjoyed. But when he heard the voice coming from Ryunosuke on the other side, the boy froze.

"Okay~ exactly five times!"

"Oh dear, I can't make out these characters anymore." Ryunosuke Uryu scratched his head, staring at the notebook riddled with insect-eaten holes, feeling quite troubled. Suddenly, Wang Xiaoming's vague muttering caught his attention.

"Thus, when full, it is the time of abandonment."

The moment the boy noticed Ryunosuke turning his gaze toward him, his body instinctively shuddered.

"Wang-san?"

Ryunosuke's tone was brimming with barely contained excitement. He strode over quickly, grabbed Wang Xiaoming by the collar, and shook him relentlessly:

"Wang-san, you actually knew the incantation to summon a Demon?! Such a cool thing and you never told me!! So what comes next? What do I say next?!! Tell me, tell me now!!!"

"Tsk—that hurts!"

Out of nowhere, the little boy lunged forward and bit down on the hand Ryunosuke was using to grip the collar.

Ignoring the boy's hateful glare, Ryunosuke flexed his right arm and flung the boy into the corner. He stared blankly at his own bloodied hand.

How long had it been since he'd been hurt? Ever since he started killing, he'd used drugs, blunt force, and all sorts of methods, but Ryunosuke had always kept himself well-protected. This was the first time in years that Ryunosuke Uryu had bled from an injury.

Looking at the mangled flesh on the back of his hand, it was clear how hard that boy had bitten down. Yet, surprisingly, Ryunosuke felt no anger. Instead, a strange thought crossed his mind:

[Is there any difference between my blood and someone else's?]

But now wasn't the time to test that. Ryunosuke shook his head and walked toward the child he'd thrown into the corner. He planned to verify that question later.

"Kid, you know, you're the first 'material' to make me bleed."

Whether from pain or fear, the boy instinctively curled up, trembling uncontrollably as Ryunosuke approached.

Ryunosuke bent down, grabbed the boy by the collar, and hoisted him up. He flashed a bloodthirsty grin:

"So, I absolutely have to reward you!"

After all, he was still just a child. The boy's earlier impulsiveness had completely dissolved into terror. In his mind, Ryunosuke was no different from the devils in fairy tales. The scream that had risen to his throat turned into meaningless sounds when it reached his lips. Tears of fear silently slipped from his eyes.

[Dad, Mom... someone save me... Uncle!]

The boy suddenly widened his eyes, staring at something behind Ryunosuke.

"I seem to recall someone promised me they wouldn't lay a hand on this kid." Wang Xiaoming stood behind Ryunosuke, his voice low, a blade pressed against Ryunosuke's neck.

"Wang-san, you're still alive, huh."

Feeling the cold touch at his throat, Ryunosuke didn't turn around. Instead, he laughed: "Right now, you probably don't even have the strength to cut, do you?"

Yes, Wang Xiaoming, having lost so much blood without any measures to stop the bleeding, had used every ounce of his strength just to stand up.

"..."

The knife slipped from his hand, and Wang Xiaoming's body slumped limply against Ryunosuke's back. The will to survive in this body had been completely drained.

[So... this is how people die.]

"Uncle!!!"

The moment he saw Wang Xiaoming collapse, the boy's emotions shattered as well.

[Someone save me!]

Pain—

Suddenly, a sharp pain jolted the boy slightly awake. The back of his right hand burned as if branded by a hot iron.

"What is this?"

Ryunosuke tilted his head, staring at the red pattern that had suddenly appeared on the back of the boy's right hand, like a tattoo. After a moment's thought, his eyes widened:

"Kid, don't tell me you've been chosen by the Demon Lord?!!"

Seemingly unable to accept this result, Ryunosuke shook the boy by the collar, demanding: "Why? Why?! Why!!!"

The boy, dangling by his collar, had his entire face flushed crimson.

[It hurts so much... I don't want to die yet.]

[Someone...]

[Save me.]

"Hmm, maybe I should just cut his hand off."

Watching the boy whose eyes were already rolling back from being choked, Ryunosuke Uryu's peripheral vision caught the knife on the floor.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, a gentle breeze swept through the sealed room, but in an instant, the weak current of air swelled into a violent gale strong enough to knock anyone off their feet. The room's decorations were caught up in the wind and smashed to pieces.

"What is this..."

Ryunosuke Uryu turned his head and found that the Summoning Circle, which had been completely still moments ago, had begun to emit a dazzling light.

A flash. Then, a roar like a thunderclap kicked up a cloud of dust inside the room.

"Caster answers the summons. My, my, it seems Master has run into a bit of trouble~"

The dust quickly dissipated, and a hooded figure gradually came into focus from within the haze.

[Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill. Let each be five, and let the cycle repeat. Yet, the moment of fullness is the moment of abandonment. ...]

A flash of light passed, and a girl clad in armor appeared within the Summoning Circle, fixing her emerald-green gaze upon the man who had summoned her.

[Servant. Saber, answering the summons. I ask of you: are you my Master?]

[Tokiomi... I'll kill you!!!]

On a rooftop, a white-haired man in a hood struggled to rise from the ground, enduring intense pain. As he stared at the elegantly dressed man in a suit across from him, the white-haired man's eyes burned with hatred.

[With you?]

The elegant man in the red suit looked at the white-haired man with a gaze full of cold indifference—a look as if he were staring at a corpse!

[Swarm! Devour him!]

The cocoons surrounding the white-haired man burst open, transforming into venomous wasps bristling with serrated fangs! At their master's command, the swarm surged forward!

[Tch]

[Saber, by the power of the Command Spell...]

The bloodstained golden-haired girl gazed at her Master with earnest eyes.

(Give me the Holy Grail)

[Use your Noble Phantasm to destroy the Holy Grail.]

The longing in the girl's eyes instantly turned into disbelief.

[Why?!]

Saber wanted to shout and question her Master, but she realized it was too late. The second command had already been issued:

[By the third Command Spell, I command...]

The disbelief in the girl's eyes completely gave way to despair.

[Kiritsugu, why? Why does it have to be you?!]

(You were the one who wanted the Holy Grail the most!)

[Destroy the Holy Grail.]

The golden Holy Sword, in time with the man's words and the girl's despair, was swung down without hesitation!

The next second

The golden light illuminated half of the night sky over this Far East Town.

[All the evil and curses in this world? To curse me, you'd need at least three times this power!]

Within this Black Mud, filled with filth, ill omen, and all kinds of negative auras, a naked Golden-haired Man showed utter contempt for such things. The majesty radiating from his body also kept the surrounding Black Mud from daring to approach him.

[Who acknowledges? Who permits? Who bears the burden of sin?]

Hearing this question, the Golden-haired Man let out a sneer of disdain:

[What a foolish question. Only a fool like you could ask such a thing. But fine, I, The King, will graciously tell you!]

[The King acknowledges, The King permits, The King bears the weight of the entire world.]

The Golden King's answer seemed to illuminate the entire dark space. The Black Mud, as if cowed by the Golden King's bearing, writhed for a moment before shattering and scattering in all directions.

Wang Xiaoming snapped his eyes open and sat up abruptly, his face pale as he clutched his head and gritted his teeth.

Pain—

That indescribable pain—

The sealed memories in Wang Xiaoming's mind began to gradually resurface. Like crashing waves, again and again, without pause, they battered his consciousness.

Wang Xiaoming felt like his head was about to explode.

"Ah—!"

In the end, Wang Xiaoming couldn't hold back a cry of pain.

After shouting, Wang Xiaoming felt the headache ease. Soon, the pain vanished without a trace, leaving only his sweat-soaked hospital gown as proof that what he'd just experienced wasn't an illusion.

Wait...

Wang Xiaoming then realized he was now sitting on a bed in a hospital gown, surrounded by white curtains that blocked his view completely.

Swish—

The curtain was suddenly pulled open, and a small, thin figure rushed forward first:

"Uncle—!"