Chapter 72: The Beast in my home

A surprise awaited Haruki in his room. The ‘small’ problem mentioned by Medea was easy to spot. Sakura’s hair had lost its color. Pure, lustrous white unlike the old people. Her appearance reminded him of the cynical god of love Kama.

Medea folded her arms on her chest. “Her hair turned white during the surgery. This side effect is very, very strange.”

“It could be Marie Antoinette Syndrome.” Haruki caressed Sakura’s cheeks. “How long till she regains consciousness?”

“I don’t—she is waking up.”

Sakura’s finger twitched, and she opened her eyes. Upon seeing Haruki, her ruby red eyes became misty.

“Senpai.” She threw herself in his arms, her tears drenching his shirt. “I missed you… I missed you so much.”

“What happened?” He could tell something was wrong, otherwise Sakura wouldn’t cry like this.

“I… I saw a god.”

Sakura recounted her meeting with Kama without leaving out anything.

“Master, this god needs to die,” Medea said, caressing Sakura’s head. “I won’t allow anyone to toy with my family again. I’ll let it happen again.”

Sakura felt flustered from Medea’s overprotective behavior. Looking at Haruki, she found him frowning. He, in fact, was looking at Sakura’s status.

Sakura Matou: A descendant of the Tohsaka Family and inheritor of the Matou family.

-Current status — Relieved

-Relationship Status — 165/100

-Species — Human, Divine Spirit

-Age — 17, Uncountable

-Gender — Female

-Height, Weight — 158cm/47kg

-Alignment — Neutral Good

-Parameters

Strength: 5 (E-)

Endurance: 5 (E-)

Agility: 5 (E-)

Magical energy: 30 (C)

Luck: 20 (D)

-Authorities

None

-Noble Phantasm

None

-Skills

Sorcery Trait: Conversion [A]

Info: This trait increases the effectiveness of storing magical energy in objects.

Sorcery Element: Hollow [B]

Info: This element increases the effectiveness of spells capable of harming spiritual beings.

Sorcery Element: Water [E]

Info: One of the five natural elements, gives easier access to Water Magecraft spells.

Cooking [D]

Info: A natural talent to quickly learn different culinary skills and techniques.

Blessing of the Goddess [C]

Info: The protection of a (bad) goddess. Takes lifeforce from nearby allies to heal wounds.

Sakura surely didn’t dream about the god. Her physical parameters rounded up to 5 while magical energy and luck experienced a considerable growth. She also regained her family ‘Conversion’ sorcery trait and her unique ‘Hollow’ element. Despite the incredible growth in Sakura’s strength, Haruki didn’t look the least happy.

‘Sakura could be in danger.’

A Divine Spirit residing inside a human was nothing but trouble, especially when the said god could become a Beast. It was already a miracle that Kama hadn’t merged or taken over Sakura’s body. He shivered at the mere thought of someone else imitating Sakura after ‘killing’ her.

‘This world just won’t let her rest for a second. What do I do about Kama?’

Even though he liked the depressed divine spirit, he didn’t want Kama to stay involved with Sakura. The situation would end in two scenarios if he didn’t separate the two.

Sakura becoming a Pseudo Servant, or Sakura becoming a Demi Servant.

Divine Spirits couldn’t manifest in the current age without a host. If Kama used Sakura as a catalyst to manifest, she would become a Pseudo Servant. She will be able to exhibit strength greater than most Heroic Spirits. For Haruki, it was the worst possible scenario as this process required Sakura and Kama to merge.

The second option, Demi Servant, was nearly impossible. It would allow Sakura to use some of Kama’s skills while being herself. Mash Kyrielight was the best example of a Demi Servant, but she was created through cruel human experiments. Even then, her lifespan had been reduced to years from the burden placed on her soul.

Haruki stroked Sakura’s hair. “We will separate you from Kama.”

Haruki looked toward Medea. The sorceress narrowed her eyes, thinking of a way to fulfill his wish.

“I’ll need time…”

The matters of souls couldn’t be treated lightly by any means. The factors involved were too many and the consequences very severe.

“Medea-san, can I use a magecraft spell on you?” Sakura asked as she gently pushed Haruki. “I want to try something.”

“Your magical energy is free now.” Medea took two steps back and summoned her staff to boost the magic defense of her robe. “Fire away.”

Sakura nodded and aimed a finger at Medea’s chest. “My spirit in your question. Your answer in prohibition. Rise, Rise, Rise. The gluttonous king of the ancient. My foe is now before me.” Her chant was quick and precise without any mistakes.

A beam of high-pressured water hit Medea. The sorceress erected a barrier to tank the spell. When the spell couldn’t bore a hole through the barrier, the water split into thin jets of water and engulfed the barrier. Medea’s barrier began to lose magical energy while Sakura’s spell grew stronger.

“Absorption?” Medea gave an appreciative look at Sakura. “And it’s fairly strong for a novice.”

Sakura glanced at Haruki as though expecting a compliment from him. He chuckled and rubbed her head just like she anticipated.

“The spell can easily injure a servant with low magic resistance. You’ll catch up to Rin in no time.”

Sakura’s face lit up with a smile at the prospect of being ‘close’ to her sister. “Senpai, I’ll become strong. I won’t let anyone separate us… not even the god of love.”

“Don’t overdo it.” Haruki kissed her forehead and forced her to rest in the bed. He pulled Medea into the living room.

“Haru,” his mother’s voice was followed by a gentle breeze. “Don’t you worry about the Beast-class now. We’ll take care of that issue after the Grail War.”

“You are one yourself, aren’t you?”

The person who possessed Sakura before was his mother. She might have been the trigger for Kama to appear.

“Yes, I’m one of the Seven Evils of Humanity. I was going to tell you that.”

Kaede’s easy acknowledgment threw Haruki off his game. He could guess what kind of evil his mother possessed. Finding his befuddled expression amusing, Kaede chuckled.

“This Kama is different from the Servant version, Haru,” Kaede whispered in his ears. “Sakura’s ‘Hollow’ origin doesn’t come from nothing. Theoretically speaking, Sakura has infinite space inside her soul.”

“I see. Is there a way to separate her from Sakura?”

“Just create another vessel for Kama… A blonde in golden armor just arrived outside. Wait, it’s your favorite Gilgamesh~.”

Haruki sighed at the unfortunate timing of Gilgamesh. ‘Why is he here?’

The wind gently pushed his back. “Go see him before he wrecks our home!”