A Saiyan's Journey

"Oh? Are you sure?"

Zuke looked at Tohsaka Rin with some surprise. It was already late at night, almost dawn, yet Tohsaka Rin didn't seem to have any intention of sleeping.

Moreover, his current targets were Kirei Kotomine and Gilgamesh. Without Tohsaka Tokiomi in the picture, Zuke no longer needed to spare Gilgamesh's life out of consideration for Tohsaka Rin.

Zuke was almost certain that Tohsaka Tokiomi's death was partly due to Kirei Kotomine's schemes.

Rin likely had no idea about Kirei Kotomine's true nature, and this operation might reveal the truth to her.

"Of course. Even though my father has died, I can't let the Tohsaka family's name be tarnished."

Tohsaka Rin rubbed her eyes, then perked up and said to Zuke:

"Let's use this Holy Grail War victory to prove that the Tohsaka family is second to none!"

"Not bad. You've got spirit, Rin."

Zuke chuckled as he ruffled Rin's hair, smiling at her slightly annoyed expression.

Since Rin had said as much, Zuke didn't mind taking her along.

If his strength were only marginally greater than Gilgamesh's, he might have hesitated, worried that Rin would distract him.

However, Zuke's power far surpassed Gilgamesh's. Combined with his substitute abilities, protecting Rin was a trivial matter.

........

"Is the matter with Tohsaka Tokiomi resolved?"

In the Tohsaka family's basement, Gilgamesh watched as Kirei Kotomine entered, a playful smile on his face.

Although Tohsaka Tokiomi's death was linked to Kirei Kotomine, Kirei hadn't directly dealt the killing blow. The dagger that killed Tokiomi bore traces of Matou Kariya.

Even if someone suspected Kirei, they could at most accuse him of failing to protect Tokiomi. The main blame would fall on Matou Kariya.

Earlier that day, Kirei had already disposed of Tohsaka Tokiomi's and Matou Kariya's bodies, turning the Tohsaka basement into his private lair.

Not only that, but Kirei also successfully seized Tokiomi's Command Seals, making Gilgamesh his Servant—though the magical energy cost was not insignificant.

"Everything is settled. No one suspects me," Kirei said with a calm expression.

Having orchestrated Tohsaka Tokiomi's death, Kirei felt no guilt. Instead, the memory of Tokiomi's dying expression amused him.

He handed Tokiomi's body to his father, Risei Kotomine—after all, Tokiomi and Risei were friends, making it reasonable for the latter to handle the remains.

Matou Kariya's corpse, however, was casually disposed of. Kirei had no interest in finding a burial spot for a stranger.

The Matou family had already fallen apart, with their estate sealed off and Zouken Matou missing. Kirei couldn't be bothered to investigate Zouken's whereabouts.

"I'm more concerned about the whereabouts of Lancer and his Master."

Indeed, after a day, Kenneth and Lancer's disappearance had finally been noticed.

While Kenneth's workshop barriers were formidable, his fiancée Sola returned, quickly dismantled the barriers, and led a team to the penthouse.

What they found was an empty room and two large pools of blood on the floor.

Although Sola refused to believe Kenneth and Lancer had perished so easily, the bloodstains and their disappearance strongly suggested otherwise.

Her disbelief, however, stemmed more from her feelings for Lancer than for Kayneth.

Kirei, too, wasn't convinced they were truly dead. Faking death was a common tactic in the Holy Grail War.

In fact, Tokiomi had once considered faking his death to conceal Kirei's Assassin Servant. Unfortunately, Kariya killed him before the plan could unfold.

Initially, Kirei had little interest in the Grail. But now, he had found his purpose: deriving pleasure from others' deaths.

For this goal, he was willing to fight for the Grail.

"Hmph, just a bunch of useless mongrels squabbling pathetically. Kirei, there's no need to overthink it."

Gilgamesh swirled the wine in his glass, taking a sip of what he considered a subpar vintage.

"Find the enemy and let me kill them. That's all the Holy Grail War is about."

As one of the most exceptional Heroic Spirits, Gilgamesh had the power and confidence to look down on almost all others.

He glanced at Kirei's hands, now marked with red Command Seals after seizing them from Tohsaka Tokiomi.

"And you should give up that pathetic Assassin. They're draining some of your mana, reducing what you can supply to me."

Heroic Spirits rely on their Masters' mana to maintain their presence.

Although Gilgamesh, as an Archer, possessed the Independent Action skill, allowing him to act without a Master's mana for a time, he couldn't unleash his full power in such conditions.

"I agree. Why not summon all the Assassins together and deal with them?"

A male voice suddenly echoed, agreeing with Gilgamesh.

"Those guys are only good for gathering intel anyway."

"You see, Kirei? I'm not the only one who thinks so," Gilgamesh said smugly, pleased to have his opinion validated.

"Well said! Not bad at all. You're—hmm?"

Gilgamesh stopped mid-sentence, realizing something was wrong.

Who had spoken?

The room should only have contained him and Kirei, yet the voice clearly belonged to neither of them.

"My apologies; that would be me."

The next moment, Zuke materialized from the corner of the basement, holding a curled-up Tohsaka Rin in his arms.

If Kirei and Gilgamesh could perceive spiritual entities, they'd see that Zuke had emerged from the body of his Stand, Blackbird.

Though Zuke had acquired the concealment skill, it only applied to himself, not Rin.

Thus, he employed his usual method, hiding both himself and Rin in the extradimensional space of Blackbird's Void Miasma, sneaking into the Tohsaka basement.

Rin's face was now filled with fury.

This was the Tohsaka estate, yet Kirei had shamelessly taken it over as his base.

Worse still, his conversation with Gilgamesh revealed the truth: Kirei hadn't merely failed to protect Tohsaka Tokiomi; he had been directly involved in his death.

Rin's hatred for Kirei skyrocketed. What she once saw as a distant and unfriendly figure now appeared as nothing less than a villain.

"Berserker! Kill them!"

Rin glared at Kirei and Gilgamesh, her voice filled with venom uncharacteristic of a child.

Perhaps witnessing Zuke's earlier slaughter of Kenenth and Lancer had made her more accepting of such violence.

Hearing Rin's command, Kirei's expression darkened, while Gilgamesh grew noticeably more serious.

To be continued...

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