Chapter 65: End of a dream

Haruki squashed the worm crests hidden in the bushes. The sickening crunch warped Rin’s face. The worms crawled away to escape their fate, only for a sword to impale them into the ground.

“How did his actions go unnoticed…?” Rin clutched the spear in her sweaty palms. “You should have gone to Mage’s Association.”

Haruki shook his head. “Human experiments aren’t rare in the magus world. Also, Zouken enjoys a noble reputation in the Clocktower. Do you think they’d offend a prominent magus over an unknown girl?”

Her sister or any other life wasn’t worth a dime in the eyes of the Clocktower’s higher-ups. The cold, harsh reality sank in Rin’s head.

Haruki said nothing more and left her alone. Zouken was one sick bastard for filling every corner with his familiars. When the familiars realized there wasn’t any salvation for them, they became aggressive and attacked Haruki.

Rin aimed her right hand at the crawling insects and consecutively fired black balls of condensed magical energy. The rune ‘Gandr’ blasted right through several familiars like a bullet.

“Don’t throw away my Mystic Code.” Haruki shrugged and continued his rampage. As if he’d let any of these survive.

The familiars suddenly sprouted wings and flew in one direction. They huddled up in a grotesque, wriggling mass of worms and took Zouken’s form. The old man’s arm morphed into a monstrous claw and reached out to Haruki.

“Idiot.”

Haruki stabbed Kanshou, the black sword, in Zouken’s palm. The yang sword of the pair made Zouken cry out in agony. Haruki didn’t let the opportunity slip by as he gripped the white yin sword Bakuya and thrust it into Zouken’s chest.

“Curse you… kid,” Zouken spat as he felt his children screech and decompose. He had thought of ambushing the defenseless Haruki and taking him captive.

“You thought I’d be easy to kill.” Haruki gave an amused smile as he cast a reinforcement spell and grasped Zouken’s throat with his right hand. “What happened? Can’t exploit children now?”

Zouken kept staring back with blank eyes, refusing to believe a teenager got the upper hand against a Pride like him. Pride, the third-highest ranking in the Clocktower proved his individual strength. Yet, a teenager read and countered his moves.

“Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Zouken whispered, recalling the fame of Haruki’s mother in the Clocktower.

“I wonder what would happen if I chant a verse of the Baptism Sacrament?” Haruki’s smile became brighter. “Can these spiritual bodies accept the holy power of the Lord?”

The Noble Phantasm Evil Eater wasn’t just for its name. He could cast the highest level of sacrament spells taught in the Holy Church. Baptism Sacrament was at one of the lowest ranked spells, and it was deadly against any spiritual body. Zouken was a mass of familiars, who all had spiritual bodies. Sakura’s Hollow element hard countered Zouken and his entire being.

Zouken’s eyes opened wide. “No… Don’t do this… I’ll fulfill your wish through the Grail.”

The old man realized the severity of the situation more than anyone. One chant of the Baptism Sacrament won’t kill him, but it will leave him in soul-crushing pain. Several chants will turn him into ashes.

Feeling Haruki’s grip loosen around his throat, Zouken continued, “The Grail, we have brought it into the world… We can make infinite wishes. Yours will be granted by her.”

He would live at any cost and fulfill his dream. He couldn’t stop after being so close to the sweet immortality.

Haruki let go of Zouken’s throat. The old man caressed his neck in stunned silence before he burst into laughter.

“Good choice, Kid.”

Rin stared at Haruki, shocked to find Haruki switching sides at the mention of a wish. “What are you doing? Don’t you fucking do this to Sakura.”

She couldn’t stop herself from cursing. All the expectations she had shattered in that instant. She clenched her right fist, summoning her magical energy to the Command Spell.

Zouken grinned and sent a swarm of insects Rin’s way. “My children want you to crawl inside you. Give me your blood, Tohsaka daughter.”

Rin responded with continuous Gandr shots to take down the worms.

“You are fierce like your father.”

Rin blocked Zouken’s worms while gritting her teeth.

‘He will pay for it.’

Zouken was truly ecstatic to find a precious mage nearby to help him regenerate. At the brightest moment of his life, a sharp pain surged through his chest. He looked down to see a pair of black and white blades poking out of his chest.

“Remember ten years ago. Your son, Kariya, gave Sakura hope,” Haruki said as he pulled back the blades and kicked Zouken to the ground. He flipped him around with another kick. “I did what I could to replicate that tiny bloom of hope. It wasn’t enough.”

He wanted to do more than just this to Zouken, but he lacked the luxury of time with the Grail lingering in the background.

“You played me.”

Zouken’s soul might have deteriorated but his wits remained sharp. Rin also realized Haruki’s attempt to get back at Zouken. She wasn’t fond of torturing people, but she wasn’t against letting Zouken suffer more.

The disturbance caused all four servants to return to Haruki’s side.

Cu Chulainn kicked a worm approaching him and spat on the ground. “A disgusting bastard. Rotten to his soul.”

“Master,” Artoria said. “Shall I?”

If nothing else, she could take the burden of taking someone’s life off of his shoulders.

Haruki just shook his head. Rin walked up to him and looked down on Zouken. The worms making up his body were falling apart.

“Why Sakura?”

Zouken chuckled feebly. “She is invaluable research material… her suffering contributed… a lot.”

Rin clenched the spear before she raised it high. “Sakura isn’t someone’s property.”

“Hoh. Your Otou-san gave her to repay an old favor.”

“He had his reasons,” Rin declared. “Otou-san wouldn’t abandon Sakura if he had a choice.”

“Do you believe in those words… yourself?”

Rin’s hand shivered. With a determined expression, she gripped the spear. Haruki snatched the Mystic Code before she ended Zouken’s life.

“Those bastards,” Zouken said. “They aren’t coming for me…”

The Grail had abandoned him

His words sounded like an ominous foreshadowing from a mob. In fact, he was recalling his new ‘comrades’

Haruki grinned and turned up the Mystic Code’s reinforcement to its limits. Taking the spear covered in violet embers, he struck Zouken’s forehead. A violet aura exploded out, enveloping Zouken in flames.

The violet flames burned Zouken and his dream of immortality.