"Ah..." Kanjuro withdrew his hand, a truly amused smile appearing on his face. The smile gradually widened, finally turning into an unmasked, boisterous laugh filled with mockery and the pleasure of control:
"Humans... are truly wonderful! Hahahaha! To think it wasn't fear of death, but... simply and completely abandoning that weak and incompetent 'ego' and choosing to follow the heart of a demon? This is... too interesting! Hahahaha!"
His laughter echoed in the blood-stained room, forming a hellish tableau along with Sola's humble kneeling posture at his feet, Diarmuid's frozen gaze behind him, and Jeanne d'Arc's increasingly cold silence.
Sola, like the most devout believer, or rather, the most submissive slave, knelt humbly at Kanjuro's feet, kissing the cold surface of his shoes as if kissing some sacred mark.
All her pride, love, and self had been burned to ashes in that cruel drama, leaving only a twisted submission and dependence on the demon before her.
Kanjuro comfortably enjoyed this deformed surrender, his gaze lazy, as if admiring a piece of art that had just been completed to his satisfaction.
Jeanne d'Arc watched all this in silence. In those eyes that had once reflected the fires of Orleans and the ashes of Rouen, a deep doubt finally emerged, impossible to suppress. Her cool voice broke this eerie "tranquility":
"Kanjuro, everything you've done—playing with people's hearts, destroying souls, creating endless pain and betrayal... what does it actually mean to you? And what... do you get out of it?" This wasn't a question, but more of an inquiry into the nature of the abyss.
Hearing this, Kanjuro lazily snapped his fingers, a wisp of black mist swirling around his fingertips.
He glanced at Jeanne d'Arc, his tone carrying a careless mockery: "What does it mean? What do I get? If I had to say... it's just out of interest. Isn't it interesting to watch so-called firm beliefs and noble love twist and collapse in the face of absolute power and despair?"
The corners of his mouth curled into an evil arc. "What? Has our Holy Maiden of the stake finally lost her patience and wants to pick up your banner of 'justice' again to judge me?"
Jeanne d'Arc forced a slight twitch of her lips—it wasn't a smile, but a very faint self-mockery.
Her gaze moved past Kanjuro, falling once more on Diarmuid's gradually cooling corpse, her eyes profound.
"Judge? No." She shook her head gently. "I was just thinking about something."
"Oh?" Kanjuro seemed to have his interest piqued slightly by her words, raising an eyebrow. "What could possibly trouble our Saint so much?"
Jeanne d'Arc looked up, staring straight at Kanjuro. Her gaze seemed to pierce through his cynical facade to touch something deeper: "I was wondering... do you think that while good people get good rewards, do evil people... get evil rewards?"
Hearing this, Kanjuro was stunned for a moment, then, as if he had heard the most absurd joke in the world, he couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Haha... Hahaha! Evil rewards?"
He laughed for a good while before asking back with a playful and cold gaze: "Do you think they do? Jeanne. Look at your end, and then look at this world... Tell me, do evil people really get evil rewards?"
"No." Jeanne d'Arc's answer was categorical, her voice chilling and without the slightest hesitation. It was the bloody conclusion she had reached after being burned by fire and betrayed by her faith.
Kanjuro nodded with satisfaction, his tone carrying a nihilism that saw through the world: "Indeed, if it's not even certain that good people get good rewards, why should evil people necessarily get evil rewards? The strong prey on the weak, and power is truth. This is an irredeemable world to begin with, so why bother comforting oneself with those hypocritical 'retributions'?" He stood up, stretched his neck, and looked at Jeanne d'Arc's face—a blend of holiness and depravity—with the interest of someone discovering a new toy.
"You interest me quite a bit, Jeanne." He said bluntly.
"Oh?" Jeanne d'Arc gave a playful smile, one that carried a sense of distance and self-preservation.
"What? Just to state beforehand, I won't develop any... strange thoughts or dependence on you." She had seen how Kanjuro destroyed Sola and would never let herself follow in those footsteps.
"You are the second woman I've found interesting."
Kanjuro seemed to recall something, his gaze drifting slightly.
The first was naturally that 'Kitami' who had left a deep impression on him during the early stages of obtaining his power.
He didn't say more, turning instead to command Sola, who was still kneeling on the ground: "You, return to the Sacred Scripture Academy for now... oh, the place now renamed Sobu High School. Wait for me there."
Sola had no objections. She didn't even raise her head, responding only with a tone full of fanaticism and absolute obedience, as if worshiping a deity: "Yes, my master."
She stood up cautiously, not even daring to brush the dust off her knees. With her head bowed, she backed out of the room, as if staying a second longer would be a desecration of Kanjuro.
"What are your plans next?" Jeanne d'Arc asked as she watched Sola leave.
She wanted to know where this demon's gaze would turn next after he had finished playing with a pawn.
Kanjuro was about to give a casual answer when an abrupt phone ring interrupted his thoughts.
He frowned slightly, took his phone from the inside of his trench coat, and glanced at the caller ID. It was Tohsaka Aoi.
He pressed the answer button, and Aoi's panicked, tearful voice immediately came from the other end: "Kanjuro! Something's wrong! Rin and Sakura... Rin and Sakura are gone!!!"
Kanjuro's brow furrowed instantly.
Tohsaka Rin and Sakura Matou—they were his daughters with Tohsaka Aoi, important pawns on his chessboard that he hadn't used yet but had already marked as his "private property."
"Where did they go?" Kanjuro's voice remained steady, but those familiar with him could hear the coldness beneath the calm.
"I don't know! I've searched everywhere they could possibly go, but I can't find them! Kanjuro, what should we do? They're still so small..." Aoi's voice was filled with helplessness and fear.
Listening to the panic on the other end, a strange smile slowly appeared on Kanjuro's face. He soothed her, "Don't worry, it's fine. Did you call Kariya Matou? Tell him Sakura is missing. He 'cares' so much about Sakura, he'll surely be very 'enthusiastic' about helping to find her."
Aoi was stunned for a moment, seemingly finding Kanjuro's suggestion a bit strange, but in her state of worry, she didn't think much of it. She only said hesitantly, "Okay... I'll, I'll call him right away. But... Kanjuro, I always feel... Kariya seems to care about Sakura a bit too much. He seems... uneasy about you."
The smile on the corner of Kanjuro's mouth deepened, a flash of understanding and calculation in his eyes.
"I know. Contact him first, and tell me as soon as there's news."
He hung up the phone, his finger lightly tapping the phone's casing. He looked out the window, as if he could pierce through space to see the silver-haired man who was currently frantic over Sakura's disappearance.
In the gloomy courtyard of the Matou Mansion, Kariya Matou sat on a stone bench, a rare look of successful calculation on his face, which was covered in twisted blue veins. He glanced at the Berserker Lancelot, who stood like a silent shadow beside him, and muttered to himself, his voice raspy from the erosion of the Crest Worms: "With the power of Diarmuid's twin swords after awakening, plus the mana reinforced by the Crest Worms... even if that guy Kanjuro doesn't die, he should at least be taught a lesson, right?"
He struggled internally, an impulse to immediately go check on Kanjuro's condition—and perhaps even take his life while he was "down"—stirring within him. After all, Kanjuro's existence was a Sword of Damocles hanging over Sakura's head.
Just then, the phone in his pocket rang urgently. He pulled it out with some impatience, but when he saw the name flashing on the screen, his whole body froze—it was Tohsaka Aoi!
Even knowing that Aoi's heart and body already belonged to Kanjuro, that name and number still acted like magic, instantly piercing through all of Kariya's defenses and pulling him back to those student days filled with youthful longing. He took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound steady or even gentle, and picked up the phone:
"Aoi, what's wrong?" He asked cautiously, for fear of disturbing the goddess on the other end of the line.
However, the news from Aoi made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar!
"Kariya! Sakura and Rin are missing!!!" Aoi's voice carried a distinct sob and unconcealable panic.
Kariya Matou's expression changed abruptly. He bolted up from the stone bench, his voice suddenly rising: "Missing?! Are there any clues? Where were they last seen?!"
"I don't know... I've searched everywhere..." Aoi's voice was full of helplessness.
"Then when you last saw Sakura, who was with her? Was there anything unusual?" Kariya forced himself to calm down and analyze quickly.
"Sakura... and Rin were saying goodbye to Kanjuro at the time... They knew Kanjuro was going to Fuyuki City... and Kanjuro is in Fuyuki City right now..." Aoi recalled haltingly.
Fuyuki City! Kanjuro is in Fuyuki City! And the two little girls just happened to go missing at this time!
"I understand." Kariya's voice grew heavy. Suppressing his inner panic, he pressed further: "So... does Kanjuro know that Sakura and Rin are missing?" He needed to judge whether Kanjuro had already intervened, or... if this was a play directed and acted out by Kanjuro himself?
On the other end of the phone, Aoi clearly hesitated for a moment. Then, with a trace of subtle protectiveness, she lied: "Um... I-I haven't contacted Kanjuro yet."
In her heart, Kanjuro was the man she relied on. She subconsciously wanted to avoid making Kariya think Kanjuro was involved in her daughters' disappearance, or she simply didn't want to trouble Kanjuro with it.
This lie, however, completely led Kariya toward the wrong judgment!
"Don't worry! I'll go look for them right now!" Anxious and frantic, Kariya hung up the phone. He gripped his phone tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force. Only one terrible thought filled his mind: Sakura and Rin must have secretly run to Fuyuki City to find Kanjuro! They have no idea that man is a demon in human skin! They're walking straight into a trap!
At the thought of the various "future plans" Kanjuro might have for Sakura, endless fear and rage instantly consumed Kariya!
He abruptly turned toward Lancelot, who stood like a statue, his voice distorted by urgency:
"Berserker! Let's go! Those two girls must have gone to find Kanjuro! We must find them immediately! We absolutely cannot let them fall into that demon's hands!" He didn't even have the heart to wonder why Rin had gone along. At this moment, protecting Sakura and rescuing her from the shadow of Kanjuro's clutches had become his sole obsession.
The crimson eyes beneath Lancelot's helmet flickered. He let out a low, indistinct growl as a response.
Though the maddened knight's reason was chaotic, he could clearly feel his master's surging magical fluctuations, a mixture of worry, anger, and determination.
Kariya Matou no longer hesitated. Taking his strongest Servant, he hurriedly left the gloomy Matou Family Mansion. His figure quickly merged into the streets outside as he began an anxious and blind search for the two missing girls.
Fuyuki City, station exit.
The biting cold wind was like an invisible knife, sweeping across the empty plaza in front of the station.
The sky was a dull gray, with leaden clouds hanging low as if they might shed freezing rain or snow at any moment.
Two little girls dressed in thick winter clothes had just stepped off the train with the sparse crowd.
The older one, with neat short black hair and eyes as bright as rubies, was Tohsaka Rin.
She opened her arms excitedly as if to embrace this unfamiliar city. Though her small face was flushed red from the cold, it overflowed with the excitement of an adventure.
"Is this Fuyuki City? It's so big!"
Rin's voice was full of joy. She turned around to look at the girl behind her, who also had silky black hair but a more introverted and quiet temperament—her sister, Sakura Matou.
Sakura was curled up, sitting on a cold suitcase. Her small hands gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, and her head was lowered, looking somewhat uneasy and timid. Hearing her sister's words, she looked up timidly, her large eyes filled with worry: "Sister... it seems very cold outside, and there are so few people... When Mommy finds out we're gone, she'll be very, very worried... How about... we go to Uncle Kariya's place for a while? At least... at least let him know we're safe?"
Sakura subconsciously suggested going to Kariya Matou's place.
After she was adopted into the Matou Family, she recognized Kariya Matou as her adoptive father. Both the Old Man of the Matou Family and Kariya Matou were quite good to Sakura and hadn't done anything excessive; they were like family to her.
Little did she know that Matou Zouken only refrained from using Crest Worms on Sakura because she had Kanjuro as her backer.
And Kariya Matou protected Sakura to the absolute extreme.
Hearing this, Rin felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her. Her excited face immediately fell. She put her hands on her hips and said with a bit of a temper: "Uncle Kariya is very good to you! But... but we both know that the way Uncle Kanjuro is good to us is different! He brings us delicious food, plays with us, and never pulls a long face like Uncle Kariya does!"
The more she spoke, the more she felt her decision was right. With a hint of spite, she added: "If you want to find Uncle Kariya so badly, then go by yourself! I'm definitely going to find Uncle Kanjuro!"
"I didn't mean it like that!" Seeing her sister was angry, Sakura hurriedly shook her head in panic, her small hands waving helplessly. "I just... just thought Uncle Kariya's place might be safer... Although he's very strict with us, he wouldn't hurt us..." Her voice grew smaller, carrying a trace of subtle fear toward that "strictness."
Looking at her sister in this state, Rin sighed like a little adult.
It wasn't that she didn't know Uncle Kariya wasn't a bad person at heart, but... she held a small secret in her heart, one that made her feel a stronger curiosity and reliance on Uncle Kanjuro.
She couldn't exactly tell Sakura that she had woken up in the middle of the night several times and faintly heard Uncle Kanjuro's deep voice coming from their mother's room, along with her mother's strange sounds and panting that seemed both painful and yet happy (which her young self couldn't understand).
This made her feel that Uncle Kanjuro and her mother had a very, very close relationship that no one else could intervene in.
Moreover, Uncle Kanjuro was going to be in Fuyuki City for a long time. She just wanted to find him. It felt as if by finding him, she could get closer to the secrets of the "adult world" and gain a peculiar sense of security.
"Anyway, I don't care!" Rin stomped her foot, trying to dispel some of the chill. "I'm going to find Uncle Kanjuro! Sakura, are you coming with me or not?"
Sakura looked at her sister's stubborn eyes, then at the unfamiliar and desolate surroundings. The scales in her heart finally tipped toward her blood-related sister.
She nodded gently and said softly, "I... I'll go with you."
"That's more like it!" Rin immediately smiled again and took Sakura's hand. "Let's go! We'll definitely find Uncle Kanjuro!"
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