A Mandatory Lesson for Anyone Who Travels to the Fate Universe

Red Archer fell silent. He could sense the terrifying mass within the casually dressed young man before him.

Before this monster, he was not even qualified to draw his blade.

"It's not just you." Lin Xiao turned to Rin Tohsaka, who was still frozen in shock. "Rin Tohsaka, I have no interest whatsoever in the 'Root' your Tohsaka Household pursues, or in that broken cup.

"That defective product tainted by Angra Mainyu? Even if someone gave it to me for free, I'd think it was filthy."

Hearing Lin Xiao casually reveal the earth-shattering truth that the Holy Grail had been corrupted, Rin Tohsaka's worldview suffered another violent blow.

"Not for the Holy Grail?" Rin Tohsaka fought down the horror in her heart. "Then what exactly did you come to Fuyuki City for?!"

"To stop this foolish group member of mine from throwing his life away for that ridiculous spirit of self-sacrifice."

"Oh, right. Besides that, there's one more thing."

Lin Xiao turned toward Shirou, and his tone suddenly became incomparably grim:

"Shirou, in that memory instance called fate, you saw every betrayal and slaughter.

"But because that was a future based on 'one possibility,' some things hidden deep in the abyss were never shown in that instance."

"For example... your junior named Sakura Matou."

"Sakura?!"

Hearing that name, Shirou froze. "What happened to Sakura?"

Lin Xiao's voice gradually sank, and the crimson radiance of the Light Giant began to flow through his eyes.

"After she was adopted into the Matou Household, she was never treated as an adopted daughter. In a pitch-black basement, countless disgusting, twisted Crest Worms gnawed at her body and altered her Magic Circuits... That torment worse than death has lasted for a full eleven years."

"...What?!"

Shirou's face instantly turned deathly pale, his fists clenching tightly.

"Worms? Eleven years?! How could that be... Sakura has always been so gentle..."

Overwhelming shock and regret instantly consumed Shirou's heart. He had always wanted to become a hero of justice, but if he could not even save the girl who cooked for him every day, what kind of justice was that?!

"Tohsaka!" Shirou suddenly turned toward Rin Tohsaka, his voice trembling. Sakura had originally been the Tohsaka Household's biological daughter!

Rin Tohsaka was on the verge of collapse as well. She bit her lip hard, tears spilling out beyond her control.

"I didn't know... I really didn't know that old man would do something like this to her... The Matou Household clearly promised they would properly train her as their heir..."

"Enough. Now isn't the time for guilt and tears."

Lin Xiao strode out of the warehouse. Facing the night wind of Fuyuki City, the faint yet absolutely sacred light around him began to tear apart the darkness bit by bit.

"In this endless multiverse, there is an unwritten rule. Anyone who crosses worlds and arrives in Fuyuki City has one thing they absolutely must do."

"Tonight, I'll take you to a mandatory class on traveling through Fuyuki."

Lin Xiao raised his head and looked toward a hill on the other side of Fuyuki City.

"What I hate most in this life is bugs that reek of rot."

Fuyuki City, Miyama Town, Matou Mansion.

This Western-style manor had long been shrouded in a cold, eerie magical barrier.

Even the surrounding air seemed filled with an inescapable stench of decay.

"Mr. Lin Xiao, the Matou Household is up ahead."

Rin Tohsaka stopped, her expression grave as she looked at the manor before them. "The entire manor is surrounded by the highest-grade detection and defensive barriers. If we rush in recklessly..."

"Barriers?"

Lin Xiao did not even slow down. He walked past Rin Tohsaka and headed straight for the tightly shut wrought-iron gate.

"Those things meant to keep out thieves are meaningless to me."

Crack—!

The instant Lin Xiao stepped onto Matou Household territory.

Rin Tohsaka and Red Archer watched in horror as, starting from Lin Ye's toe, the invisible magical barrier surrounding the entire Matou Household let out a strained wail like a fragile glass dome struck by a sledgehammer, then exploded into countless motes of light!

"He... he didn't even use magical energy to break it..." Rin Tohsaka's understanding of magecraft collapsed.

Bang!

Lin Xiao kicked open the heavy doors and strode into the sinister manor.

Shirou and Rin followed close behind, their eyes burning with barely contained fury.

"Hehehe... I thought some stray dogs were barking. So it's the little girl from the Tohsaka Household and the brat from the Emiya Household."

A hoarse laugh suddenly rang out from deep within the hall.

A bald old man with a hunched back, looking like a dried corpse, slowly emerged from the shadows.

Zouken Matou.

"In the middle of the night, you bring an unknown Heroic Spirit whose class I can't even identify and force your way into this old man's residence..." Zouken's cloudy gaze swept over Lin Ye, yet he could see nothing. "What is it, little girl of the Tohsaka Household? Do you intend to start a war between the three families?"

"Shut up, you utterly disgusting old monster!"

Rin Tohsaka glared at Zouken, her eyes red as she roared through gritted teeth, "Where is Sakura?! What did you do to Sakura?!"

Emiya Shirou directly poured magical energy into his arms, ready to charge forward and fight to the death at any moment. "Hand Sakura over! You beast who doesn't even spare his own family!"

"Oh? So you came for that useless vessel?"

Rather than panic at their accusations, Zouken let out an extremely twisted laugh. "Hehehe... What touching sisterly devotion. Since you want to see her so badly, then take a look!"

The old worm sharply flicked his withered finger.

The floor at the back of the hall suddenly split apart, revealing a bottomless black opening.

Then, amid a skin-crawling rustling, thousands upon thousands of foul-smelling Crest Worms lifted a purple-haired girl from the insect nest in the basement, slowly raising her upward.

"Senpai... Sister..."

Sakura Matou weakly opened her eyes. Her gaze was hollow and numb, and disgusting worms crawled all over her body.

"SAKURA!!!"

The instant he saw this, Shirou's eyes turned completely red. The last thread of reason in his mind snapped, and he was about to rush forward. Rin Tohsaka's legs went weak, and she covered her mouth in anguish.

"Hehehe! You can't even bear this?"

Zouken waved his cane smugly. "Every single one of her Magic Circuits bears this old man's Crest! Even her heart is parasitized by this old man's Brain Worm! With a single thought from me, she'll be gnawed away until not even bone fragments remain! Leave now, and everyone will be fine!"

Lin Xiao sighed and covered his nose in distaste.

"Even after reading the original work, seeing these worms in person still makes me sick enough to vomit."