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Late at night — Matou Residence.
Several figures dropped soundlessly from the sky, landing before the mansion's heavy iron gates.
Alex turned to the group of women beside him. "Our top priority is rescuing Sakura. Once we're in, find her immediately. Esdeath, you go wild—kill whoever you want. Hestia, you and my sister take the perimeter. Nothing gets out. Not even a fly."
The women nodded in unison and scattered into motion.
Merlin raised her staff. With a wave, the Barrier of the King of the Winds expanded, sealing off the entire Matou estate.
Morgan's staff shimmered and morphed into a sword—Excalibur, though its hue was a chilling steel-blue rather than gold.
She swung it casually. A streak of blackish-blue energy slashed forward. The massive gate—and even the house behind it—split cleanly in two, like someone had sliced through tofu.
"Tch. Morgan-chan, your swordplay's as crude as ever," Merlin teased, drawing a blade identical to the King's sacred sword.
The holy weapon flared with golden brilliance. Merlin pointed it at the ground and drove it down.
A heartbeat later, countless pillars of light erupted from below, roaring upward like dragons awakening from the earth. The entire Matou estate disintegrated under the barrage.
Damn… this is what they call the sword saints of Britain?
"Would you two not start with your ultimates? What if you hurt Sakura?" Alex snapped.
"Relax. I already found her." Hestia snapped her fingers, and a shimmering orb rose from the rubble—inside was a small girl with violet hair, curled up unconscious.
Seeing her safe, Alex finally exhaled—but he still couldn't help sighing. Perfect. Nobody followed the damn plan.
Esdeath adjusted her military cap, eyes gleaming with excitement. "Then there's nothing holding me back. My turn."
She hadn't had a proper fight since arriving in this world, and her blood had been boiling for it.
She stretched her arms forward, fingertips touching.
The temperature plummeted.
A massive ice sphere formed high above the estate, growing larger and larger until it looked like a frozen meteor. It came crashing down.
Merlin whistled. "Now that's what I call style."
Morgan nodded in awe. "A completely different power system… neither magecraft nor that Roxy-style magic."
"As expected of the Empire's strongest general," Alex said, half in admiration, half in disbelief.
Everyone except Luo Hao and Hestia stared, speechless, at Esdeath's overwhelming display.
Just as the giant ice meteor was about to strike, a swarm of insects burst from the ruins. They gathered into the form of a hunched old man.
Matou Zouken.
His face twisted with rage. "Who are you people? Why are you attacking my family?!"
Alex's eyes lit up the instant he saw him. He pointed and shouted, "That's him! Quick, kill him!"
The women exchanged a glance—then their expressions hardened. Every one of them unleashed their full power.
Roxy: "Thunderstorm—Heavenly Cumulonimbus!"Merlin: "Excalibur!"Morgan: "Avalon Beyond Reach!"Luo Hao: "Vajra Divine Fist!"Hestia: "Holy Flame of Annihilation!"
Their combined attacks, along with Esdeath's descending ice sphere, converged on Zouken all at once.
The old man froze, eyes wide in disbelief. What kind of death is this? How did I deserve something this dramatic?
Even Alex was stunned. I said kill him, not drop every ultimate you've got!
BOOM.
That night, Fuyuki City slept under a new sunrise—one born from nuclear-level devastation.
By morning, the Matou estate was gone.
Completely gone.
Everything within three kilometers had been erased, leaving behind a six-kilometer-wide crater.
In a hotel room across town, Sakura woke from her coma.
She blinked at the handsome boy beside her, surrounded by a group of beautiful women. She didn't know what to say. Her small hands nervously twisted at her clothes.
"Don't be scared, Sakura," Alex said softly, patting her head. "From now on, you'll stay with me, alright?"
Sakura hesitated, then whispered, "What… what happened to Grandpa?"
Alex didn't answer directly. "Do you know what he was planning to do to you?"
She froze. Then gave the faintest nod.
Just yesterday, after her father sent her to the Matou household, her grandfather had taken her to the basement—where countless writhing bugs waited. He told her to lie down so they could 'remake' her.
She'd been terrified, but there was no one to tell. She just wanted to go home. To her parents. To her sister.
But none of them were there.
Thankfully, Zouken hadn't gotten the chance. Just as he prepared to begin, Alex arrived.
"It's alright now," Alex said gently. "Your bad grandpa's gone. You'll never see those disgusting bugs again." He pulled the little girl into his arms, eyes full of quiet fury.
Damn that old monster… the things he did to her in the original story—how could anyone stomach that?
"R-really?" Sakura's voice trembled.
"Really." He nodded firmly.
"Waaah…"
The dam broke. All the fear, the loneliness, the grief came pouring out. She clung to Alex, sobbing uncontrollably.
The women around them couldn't hold back their pity. Even Luo Hao, usually cold and proud, reached out and gently patted the girl's head.
She'd lived for two centuries, seen the tragedies of modern China firsthand, and normally had nothing but contempt for people from the Sakura Nation. But at that moment, even she felt a pang of compassion.
"Just killing that worm was too merciful," Hestia muttered angrily.
"Agreed," Esdeath said with a wicked smile. "If it were me, I'd have shown him what true despair feels like."
After crying for a while, Sakura finally fell asleep in Alex's arms.
He carried her to his room, tucked her under the covers, and quietly stepped out, closing the door behind him.
The first day of the Holy Grail War—and the Matou family was already gone.
The other Masters were horrified. Even the Clock Tower in distant London was shaken.
The Mage's Association convened an emergency meeting to decide whether to intervene and shut the Holy Grail War down entirely.
In the end, they chose to first send someone to investigate.
Meanwhile, at the Tohsaka residence—
Aoi Tohsaka listened to her husband Tokiomi's account, her face paling as he spoke.
"The Matou family… destroyed? Everyone dead?"
"My poor Sakura…" she whispered before her vision went black and she collapsed.
Tokiomi barely caught her in time. Looking down at his unconscious wife, guilt flickered across his face.
"Did I… make a mistake?" he murmured.
He couldn't understand it. The Matou family hadn't even entered this Holy Grail War. So why had they been wiped out?
"..."
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