I, Ritsuka, the Siscon Grand Hero

A mage who can possess Noble Phantasms through Class Cards, and steal those Noble Phantasms, was something Ritsuka hadn't anticipated. However, if it were possible, the situation would undoubtedly improve significantly afterward, as Noble Phantasms are essentially trump cards for Servants.

They are things that can overturn the course of a battle, reversing victory and defeat.

If one could steal Noble Phantasms during combat, honestly, that power would be excessively exaggerated.

"Hmm, an illusion?"

Ritsuka patted his cheek, putting the card away. The side effects of the suppression spell reappeared, causing dizziness and making everything in his vision distort.

Chapter 33: Mage Matou Sakura

"Hoo... Hoohoo..."

Heavy breaths echoed in her ears. Sakura casually threw out a few gems, and Bravery's flames and lightning struck the rampaging Assassin.

It was clear that this puppet named Matou Shinji was mentally unstable, to the point of not adopting a one-hit-kill combat style as an Assassin and instead wanting to crush the enemy head-on. Even though Sakura appeared to be struggling under the threat of her Servant, she still managed to suppress the enemy with Magecraft alone.

At least, that's how it appeared on the surface.

A beautiful butterfly rested on her fingertips. An illusionary barrier enveloped the area, its effect being to disperse ordinary people and seal sounds, thus preventing accidental intrusion.

Sakura's heart was, in every sense of the word, excessively kind.

"...It's over."

She crushed a golden gem with force, and a brilliant spear of light shot out, hitting Matou Shinji, who was bouncing around, sending him flying nearly a hundred meters before exploding and blasting half the street.

Sakura, with her considerable combat experience, seized the fleeting opportunity and gripped the Archer card in her hand.

"I won't let anyone hurt senpai!"

Radiance bloomed in Sakura's hand, and astonishing magical energy surged from the Class Card.

In a flash bright enough to blind, Matou Shinji strained his eyes open, his skeletal face seemingly etched with disbelief.

"King of Heroes, Gilgamesh. If I use this card, I can definitely defeat you..."

Sakura froze.

Gilgamesh was a true powerhouse, arguably one of the strongest, if not the strongest among Heroic Spirits, then certainly among Servants.

An Assassin who could be suppressed by Magecraft alone would be utterly crushed by Gilgamesh.

If it were truly Gilgamesh's card...

The light from the card faded, and it floated silently in Sakura's hand before falling without a sound.

Nothing happened. The 'Dream Summon' like that of the puppet Matou Shinji had failed directly, failing without any struggle.

"Puhahahaha—!!" Matou Shinji leaned back, laughing with extreme exaggeration. "What's wrong, Sakura...? Your Dream Summon failed? After holding back for so long... I finally get to see you, after I forced myself not to kill my own sister!!"

"Eh? How could this...?"

Sakura was thrown into unprecedented shock. A distorted skull mask appeared before her eyes, and Shinji thrust a dagger-like weapon through her shoulder.

Shinji then kicked Sakura away, and the 'Gilgamesh' card fell to the ground.

"Sakura, you're too naive. Lord Julian predicted your betrayal long ago. How could he possibly give you the strongest Gilgamesh card?"

He raised his foot and stomped hard on Sakura's shoulder. Blood began to seep out. Looking at Sakura's pained expression, Shinji covered one side of his face with a 'joyful' look and burst into laughter. "Puhahahaha... That's a useless card! It's not connected to any Heroic Spirit, a truly, utterly useless card!"

"Hehehehe... Old man, what's the point of giving the head of the family position to this trash?! Someone who only thinks about 'senpai' all day can never revitalize the family!?"

He ground his foot down hard, laughing maliciously, then raised the knife in his hand and aimed it at Sakura's eyes.

His cold gaze swept over Sakura's entire body.

"Sakura, tell me, where did that old man put his Magic Crest? I'll help you cut it off. Don't worry, it won't hurt much..."

"Because... I'm going to finish you off myself right now, so it won't hurt, Puhahahaha—!!"

The laughter abruptly stopped. Matou Shinji froze as if he'd glitched, standing there blankly, even retracting the foot he had been pressing on Sakura's shoulder.

"Huh? What was I doing...? Oh, I remember. I need to retrieve my Magic Crest."

He shook his head vigorously. The Assassin held his knife horizontally, seemingly searching for the location of the Magic Crest.

Sakura gritted her teeth. Hundreds of butterflies suddenly emerged from beneath her, covering Matou Shinji beside her in a vast swarm.

Startled by the sudden appearance of the butterflies, Shinji lost his balance and nearly fell.

Rolling to his feet, Sakura unleashed the ultimate move she had been holding back, driving explosive Magecraft to its limit without holding back. Countless butterflies surged out from behind her.

The continuous sea of butterflies completely enveloped Matou Shinji into a sphere at least two meters in diameter.

Amidst booming sounds, the ground caved in, surrounding walls collapsed, and intense crimson light even blew Sakura, who was not far away, backward.

Having dealt with the first enemy who came knocking, Ritsuka rushed to the street where he had previously sensed magical energy erupting.

With A-rank Agility, he sped through the streets, leaping onto the side of a wall. In the snowy night, his figure was like a phantom, moving so fast that ordinary people couldn't even follow his silhouette.

Ritsuka lightly tapped his foot and jumped onto the roof of a residence.

He gazed into the distance, looking at the street that had been nearly blown apart. The asphalt surface was scorched, as if all the underground gas pipes had exploded. The entire street had almost lost its original appearance.

"Assassin?"

On the street, there was only a single, contorted figure, its presence flickering in and out of visibility. It was clear they possessed concealment abilities, yet for some reason, they remained stationary in the middle of the road.

However, that had nothing to do with her.

Looking at its frenzied state, she'd believe it if someone called it a Berserker. What normal Assassin looked that strange? Could it be her hallucination?

The girl she expected wasn't there. The street looked like the aftermath of a battle; perhaps the Assassin had driven off their opponent.

Ritsuka let out a small sigh of relief, her slender fingers gripping a large, golden bow.

The secret treasure of Alcides, the Bow of the Hydra, used to slay the Hydra, was drawn taut by Ritsuka, her eyes sharp as a falcon's.

Her Synchronization Value was at 100%. Ritsuka now understood the existence of this entity, originally a bowman. How excellent its long-range attack capabilities were: with a vision range of 20 kilometers and astonishing Strength, it could fire supersonic arrows comparable to Noble Phantasms, hitting targets 20 kilometers away without damage.

And this ability, in a situation where the distance was merely a few hundred meters…

"Second."

The arrow couldn't be loosed. The assassin in Ritsuka's sight vanished instantly. Her eyes narrowed sharply.

The surrounding space seemed to shatter. Without her realizing it, she had stepped into a relatively small Grand Magecraft Barrier, her senses significantly impaired.

It was clear that the hallucinations were a side effect of the Magecraft on her, inadvertently aiding this Magecraft Barrier.

Just as Ritsuka wondered who could unleash Magecraft of this caliber, a dark purple shadow lunged into the courtyard, a sharp blade aimed at her chest.

Clang—!

The golden bow deflected the incoming weapon. Ritsuka's gaze sharpened, and her fingertips gripped a throwing dagger, which the enemy had just thrown as a hidden projectile.

This thing couldn't break through the defense of the Twelve Trials.

Ritsuka gripped the shaft of the longbow with one hand, using it as a melee weapon. With an explosive lunge, she smashed her opponent fiercely away.

The wall shattered with a roar, countless bricks and stones flying through the air. The slender figure was sent flying nearly a hundred meters, landing on a distant slope.

Drawing her bow and nocking an arrow, Ritsuka slowly advanced. The Bow of the Hydra aimed at the assassin. Standing at the edge of the slope, her pupils contracted slightly…

"Sakura?"

Matou Sakura lay on the ground, a card in her hand, a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth. She offered a helpless smile.

Then, she closed her eyes.

Section 34 Chapter Thirty-Three: Even If the Path Ahead is Hell?

At the Emiya Residence, less than half of the gate swayed in the wind, emitting a creaking sound. The snow was gradually ceasing.

In the room where they had eaten together not long ago, Ritsuka and Sakura sat in silence, separated by the kotatsu. The Assassin and Archer Class Cards lay between them.

"The Holy Grail War… using the power of Heroic Spirits to forge cards, fighting each other, and seizing victory. The families who created this Magecraft Ritual are called the 'Big Three Families'."

The power of Heroic Spirits—Ritsuka already possessed this herself, though there were slight differences.

Cards fed power back into the body, borrowing the abilities of Heroic Spirits, while Ritsuka burned herself, constantly replacing her inner self with the power of Heroic Spirits.

Having disarmed completely and wearing a thick tracksuit, Ritsuka looked no different from the girl next door she used to be, except her eyes were a bit vacant, giving off a strange, doll-like aura.

Sakura knew where the problem lay.

She knew everything once she received information from the Enzō family that the Holy Grail vessel had been found.

"Sakura, are you also here to deal with me?"

Were you lying to me all this time?

Was everything fake?

Such thoughts flashed through her mind for a moment, then vanished. Ritsuka noticed the incredibly sad expression on Sakura's face and couldn't help but feel a bit self-deprecating, almost to the point of laughing out loud.

The Matou family was one of the three creators of the Holy Grail War. Kirei Kotomine had probably already told her this, but unfortunately, she hadn't understood it sooner.

"Senpai, you're so mean."

Sakura, her face pale and looking very weak, smiled forlornly.

She raised her tightly clenched hand and pushed the cards on the table towards Ritsuka. "Please, Senpai, you must save Miyu."

"Sakura…"

Ritsuka silently took the cards, a somewhat absurd possibility flashing through her mind. But on second thought, it might really be the case.

Pressing her lips together, Ritsuka said something that made Sakura's expression stiffen—

"Sakura, you actually knew Miyu's identity a long time ago, didn't you… her identity as a Divine Child."

"Your Magecraft mastery is far superior to mine. You can even independently maintain a hallucinatory Magecraft Barrier. Could it be that all these years, you've actually been casting special spells on Miyu?"

In a clear voice, Sakura lowered her head.

Void, a rare magical aptitude naturally possessed by Matou Sakura, defined as 'though it might exist, it does not exist within the material world,' also known as Imaginary Number.

It might be related to space-time; an extremely rare magical attribute in the world.

Based on this, combined with Matou Sakura's far superior Magecraft abilities compared to Ritsuka, it wasn't impossible for her to have unknowingly added a layer of protection for Miyu. The butterflies Sakura could control were quite peculiar.

The reason for the exposure must be related to that girl named Erika. She carried a divine aura that was familiar to Alcides.

A Greek god.

"I'm not blaming Sakura, I just wanted to say thank you, that's all."

No matter when Sakura discovered Miyu's identity, she never harmed Ritsuka or Miyu and even provided considerable help. It was only right and proper to express gratitude.

Sakura gave a silly smile, her body instinctively straightening as her expression turned serious. "Senpai, have you ever thought about running away?"

Ritsuka suddenly froze.

Running away? So that was an option, something she hadn't considered before.

All the burdens had been shouldered by her alone. Kiritsugu had ultimately respected her wishes, no longer treating Miyu as a tool.

Loss after loss, she had nothing else by her side from the very beginning. It was just like the room from her previous life, filled with the smell of disinfectant, its white walls nauseating and revolting.

A smile she couldn't control tugged at the corners of her lips, a memory from deep within.

No one was with her.

In the awkward silence, the girl with the Emiya surname suddenly let out a low laugh, her expression becoming resolute.

Even someone as hollow as her, someone who imitated others and tried to learn, this absolute failure among artificial geniuses, now had her own wish.

"I won't run away."

Ritsuka tightly gripped the two cards in her hand: one Assassin, one Archer. The Archer card, however, was blank, a useless card devoid of Heroic Spirit power.

The next moment, in Ritsuka's vision, a scene slowly materialized on the card, an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

A man with silver hair and tanned skin, wielding twin blades, stood upon a desolate sword hill.