Chapter 1192 1185 Matou Zouken

In the blink of an eye, it disappeared from sight, leaving only the roar of the motorcycle going away. Waver and the others stood there in a daze, listening to the sound of the motorcycle. Rider, who had been listening to the exhaust sound, nodded with a knowing expression.

"Motorcycles... Yeah. They are really good things."

"——You, the first sentence you said after losing was actually this?"

Suddenly losing all the strength in his body due to the aftermath of the battle, Waver, who was angrily questioning Rider, suddenly realized an important problem and became very frustrated.

"Hey, Rider... How do we get back?"

"Ah, then. We can only walk back."

"... Yes."

In the darkness. Waver looked at the Shinto with lights shining in the distance. He sighed deeply.

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Matou, Zouken——

In front of him was the mastermind behind the Matou family, whom he had only heard of but never seen. Kotomine Kirei's consciousness could not help but switch to a battle state.

A short figure who cleverly chose to stand in a dead corner where bright light could not penetrate the street at night. Although his appearance was dry and old, on the contrary, this old man was a very dangerous existence, Tokiomi repeatedly told himself so. Although he claimed to have retired from the world, he secretly used the secret arts of magic to prolong his life and ruled the Matou family for several generations. In a sense, he was much more dangerous than Kariya, the Master, and was a person who needed special attention.

"Kotomine Kirei. I heard that you are the son of that particularly stubborn and upright Risei, is that right?"

"Indeed."

Hearing this hoarse voice asking, Kirei nodded in agreement.

"Humph - how unexpected. People often say that a golden phoenix flies out of a chicken coop, and it is true. I didn't expect that man to give birth to a son as cunning as you."

"What's the matter with you, Matou Zouken."

Ignoring the provocation of the old magician, Kirei questioned.

"You should obviously be on Kariya's side, so why are you hiding here and eavesdropping?"

"What? I'm only doing this out of the painstaking efforts of a parent who is worried about his child. I want to see with my own eyes what kind of helper Kariya has found."

He deliberately pretended to smile like a good grandfather, but there was something different about his dry face that looked like a skeleton. It seemed that it was impossible for him to have such a smile based on the structure of his face.

"I heard everything you said to Kariya to please him. You seemed to be planning to get rid of the son of the Tōsaka family."

"That's true. That man killed my father--"

"Stop it. Don't tell that lie again."

The deep eye sockets buried in the wrinkles stared at Kirei with a gleaming light.

"Kotomine Kirei, you are too clever. You dared to act secretly without telling Tōsaka. You were too bold. When you said you wanted to get rid of Tokiomi, you didn't need to rely on Kariya to kill him from that moment on. You must have made all the preparations - I am not old enough to be confused. Although you can deceive Kariya, don't try to deceive me."

"..."

In his heart, he further improved his evaluation of this old magician, but Kirei still pretended to be calm.

"Your goal is not the son of the Tōsaka family, but Kariya himself. Right?"

"...If you doubt me so much, why don't you dissuade Kariya?"

A creepy sound like a swarm of insects humming rang out, and after a while, Kirei realized that it was the suppressed laughter of the old man.

"Well, how should I put it? I can say it's just out of my curiosity. I want to see what means you use to 'destroy' Kariya, and I'm very interested in this."

"...Zou Yan, is it okay to watch Kariya's chances of winning, who is fighting for the Matou family, being destroyed bit by bit?"

"Kareya's? Chance of winning? Humph, that kind of thing didn't exist from the beginning. If that kind of trash could seize the Holy Grail, the past three battles would have been farces."

"I don't quite understand. Isn't the Matou family one of the three great families that are eager to obtain the Holy Grail?"

Hearing Kirei's question, Zou Yan sneered.

"In my opinion, the son of the Tōsaka family and those guys from the Einzbern family are all idiots. If you remember the last battle clearly, you will understand that this fourth Holy Grail War is a bit strange, and you should be alert to it.

I saw through this battle from the beginning. In fact, from the beginning of the battle, look at Caster's useless appearance. It is obvious that what was summoned was not a Heroic Spirit but an evil spirit that is far from a Heroic Spirit. There is no doubt that something is wrong with the Holy Grail War system. First of all, we have to figure this out."

Perhaps this weirdo who transcends human common sense is in the middle of every Holy Grail War. Even the former supervisor Kotomine Risei did not know, but this Matou Zouken has already mastered it.

"Then why let Kariya and Berserker participate? If you just plan to stand aside and watch, why did you prepare even the Servants?"

"No, although there are some doubts, it is a grand celebration held once every sixty years. There is no point in watching the children fooling around there. So I found a way to enjoy it that is unique to me."

Zou Yan said in a somewhat funny tone. The corners of his mouth were even more crooked, full of smiles.

"Of course, if that good-for-nothing guy really got the Holy Grail, there would be no better result than this. Having said that, I really don't have the patience.

Seeing the distressed look of Kariya who betrayed me, to be honest - I really can't get enough of it. I have the desire to pray for the victory of the Matou family, but I am tempted by the thought of seeing Kariya defeated and at the end of his rope. It's really too difficult to choose."

Zou Yan's hoarse laughter was really irritating to Kirei. It would be great if this encounter was on the battlefield, and the two sides fought a life-and-death battle with real swords and guns instead of words. Although he knew that the other party was a very dangerous old magician, he still couldn't help thinking so. It seems that for Kirei, the existence of Matou Zou Yan has reached such an intolerable level.

"You... want to see your loved ones suffer, so much so that you want to do this?"

Zouken raised his eyebrows as if to tease Kirei's question, who was trying hard to hide his true inner expression.

"Ah, what a surprise. I thought you could understand my joy."

"——What did you say?"

"I may look old, but my nose is still very sharp, Kotomine Kirei. You have the same smell as me. Just like the maggots that crawled here attracted by the rotten meat of Kariya."

"..."

Kirei remained silent and slowly pulled out the black key from his robe.

Because he knew that he could no longer persuade with reason, and it was time to fight this old magician to the death. Now Zouken had already spotted this opportunity. That was a desperate situation where his life was already at stake. If he wanted to ensure that his vitals would not be hit, he had to take the ultimate move of attacking head-on without warning.

Now Matou Zouken had crossed this line. He did not use his feet but his words.

But Zouken still faced Kirei's cold murderous intent with a leisurely smile.

"...Oh? Did I overestimate you a little? I thought I had finally found a like-minded person. It seems that you still feel a little ashamed of your shamelessness - haha, you are really too immature. Do you think this is like being immersed in something shameful like masturbation and feeling ashamed?"

There was no demonstration or warning. In the moment when even the preparations could not be seen, Kirei threw two black keys from the left and right directions, as if he wanted to skewer the old man's body.

However, facing the white blades, Zouken still did not waver at all, and seemed very calm. This was not a bluff. At the moment when he was about to be pierced by the two blades, the outline of the old magician melted like a clay sculpture, and once again returned to an unknown shadow hiding in the corner.

Kirei's whole body was alert, and a mocking voice that seemed to be very happy came from somewhere.

"Ah, so scary, so scary. Although he is young, he is a lackey of the church after all. If you make fun of him, his life will be in danger."

Kirei picked up another black key and stared at the shadow that was wriggling in the darkness.

Was it an illusion that he almost pierced through Matou Zouken's body just now? Or is it that Matou Zouken's body itself does not exist - anything beyond common sense is possible for this cunning old magician. If you are surprised by such a small thing, you can't be an agent at all.

"Really, see you next time, young man. In order to be equal to me next time we meet, you must cultivate your own nature. Hahahaha..."

After leaving behind a creepy laugh, Zouken's breath melted into the darkness and disappeared. All that was left was Kirei's figure standing like a scarecrow with a knife.

"..."

Kirei was very anxious and threw the black key that had lost its target on the roof.

I didn't expect that this old man was a monster with no use value. There was no reason to let him continue to live.

An enemy that must be eliminated sooner or later. He had this certainty about Matou Zouken.

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In order to ignore the gradually darkening night, Matou Tsuruno continued to indulge in alcohol tonight.

Nothing happened last night, and it passed peacefully, but now he felt very hateful. The calm sea must have waves coming from behind. Nothing dangerous happened last night, and it passed peacefully, which meant that there would definitely be a dangerous disturbance tonight.

Of course, Tsuruno knew the original form of the strange things that threatened the night of Fuyuki City for several days. He was the eldest son of the famous Matou family, and the last descendant of the great bloodline that had started an expedition in the distant past to search for the trace of the Holy Grail. In fact, he should have participated in this horrible war as one of the parties involved.

But he betrayed this responsibility that belonged to him and immersed himself in alcohol all day, and Tsuruno felt no shame for himself. On the contrary, he believed that this was the attitude he should take as a matter of course compared to his younger brother Kariya, and Tsuruno could assert this with his chest held high.

Tsuruno could not understand why Kariya, who had been expelled from the Matou family for a long time, would return to his hometown and participate in the Holy Grail War. He did not even want to understand. In any case, he could not thank his brother enough for changing his mind. Otherwise, it would not be Kariya who was forced to participate in the Holy Grail War in that state, but himself.

Recalling the black ghost-like figure that Kariya summoned through the summoning circle to sign a contract with him - in order to stay away from the horror of that time, he could only use alcohol to numb himself.

Once he thought of the six similar things, devouring flesh and blood and killing each other on a night like this, how could he stay awake? Today's Fuyuki City is simply a real demon world. If he wants to continue to maintain a calm mind in such a place, the only thing he can rely on is alcohol.

His only son Shinji went abroad in the name of studying abroad, and Tsuruno really didn't want to stay in the current Fuyuki City. But. He had no reason to leave the Matou mansion. In the underground insect library, it was the task that Zouken gave him to train the little girl adopted by the Tosaka family to become the next head of the Matou family.

Yes, as the current head of the Matou family, Tsuruno has completed his task perfectly. Originally, Zouken's original policy in this Holy Grail War was to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. Anyway, Kariya was just a toy in the hands of the old magician. Now the only one in the Matou family who is walking the right path is Tsuruno. It's not a matter of the number of magic circuits. Even if his ability can only defeat a child, Tsuruno still firmly believes that the path he is taking is the real path to the future of the Matou family...

He said this to himself, and then he looked down on his brother while pouring wine into his stomach.

Becoming a magician of the Matou family means becoming a puppet of the mastermind behind it - Zouken. It is precisely because he understood this that he had no sympathy for Kariya, who once left home and now foolishly came back to become the seedbed of the engraved insects. He didn't have any flesh and blood feelings for his brother. He has much better talents than his brother, but he forced the cursed fate that the Matou family had borne for generations onto Tsuruno alone and left home. How can I feel sympathy for such a man now? ()