Part 355: Best / Sacrilege - Sisters (VI)

Music: Whirlpool of Fate 2





"That's right. Hurry, Emiya Shirou!
Sakura has turned dark. Once she captures Ilyasviel, she will swallow her without mercy…!"
"!"





Music: Stop







The Emiya household is quiet.
Shirou and Rin went to find Sakura.
Rider, naturally, is nowhere to be seen, leaving Ilya as the only one here.
"The giant cavern. The promised land built two hundred years ago. From the feel of it, it's already activated."
This is the fifth Holy Grail War in Fuyuki.
The Holy Grail has been summoned into different places each time, but it has returned to the original site for this war.

It's only natural.
They use one of the gates located at the four compass points, and move on to the next when one fails.
The first was the Ryudou Temple.
The second was the Tohsaka household.
The third was the church on top of the hill.
The fourth was that burned field.
Then this summoning returns to the site of the first.
The point of origin.
The false utopia that sets the rules of the Holy Grail War.

"A Holy Grail filled with the souls of heroic spirits.
Using it to open the gate is the very miracle they aimed for… But I didn't expect its contents to come out before the gate had been opened."
Ilya murmurs in disbelief.
This is far away from the Einzbern's dearest wish.
They have failed.
The disaster that will be born is a far cry from what they wished for.



"Will Shirou make it? I could run away with him if he does."
She looks up at the sky.
The girl is wavering.
She doesn't know whether to choose the role imposed on her or the desire born from within her.

"But Shirou. It makes no difference to the fact that I'm going to die."
The result is the same.
Regardless of whether she goes to the gate as the Holy Grail or runs away, she will die.
Which is her true self? She asks the gray sky for an answer.

""
That's why she doesn't notice.
The person who came through the door with an "I'm home."
Did she slip through the boundary field, or did it not consider her a trespasser?

Music: Wandering Shadow

""
Slowly.
She moves from the living room to the yard without a sound, then reaches out to the girl sitting at the porch.



"You're home late, Sakura. Where were you?"



The trespasser, Matou Sakura, stops her hand.
She looks away from Ilya and to Tohsaka Rin, who has been waiting for her in the yard.

"Get away from Ilya. I'll shoot you down if you get any closer to her."
Everyone here knows it's no empty threat.


"It's useless. Well, go ahead if it'll satisfy you, Rin."

Ilyasviel starts walking without showing any surprise.
The girl walks to the edge of the yard, as if to watch over the two's confrontation.




"Yeah. I don't have a reason to save you, unlike Shirou. It was obvious that you'd come to kidnap Ilya when the time came. You've done it once before, so I'd be foolish not to keep an eye on her."



Sakura's brows twitch at Shirou's name.
Showing unhappiness.
She shows undisguised hatred that would surprise anyone who knew her previous self.



"…That's terrible. You're always like that, Nee-san. You always make fun of me. You're beautiful, so you look down on me because I'm dirty.
You're absolutely hateful. Nee-san. Am I that bad of a person?"
Her voice contains no emotion.
The question alone should send a chill up anyone's spine.


"Of course. You're a big idiot who gave up her chance to be saved the instant she stepped out of this house. You didn't trust the person that Matou Sakura wanted to protect."
But Tohsaka Rin gives a firm reply.



Sakura looks down.
As if acknowledging the truth of her mistake.

"But I…"


"Don't say you thought it was for the best. We told you not to go outside. If you had any objections, you should've come and talked with us first.
But you went without saying anything. You went alone and made the same mistake you always made.
Unbelievable. People take advantage of you because you can't do something as simple as that."




"…You're right. I was definitely like that until now.
But Nee-san. I'm not weak anymore. You're the one who can stay in the house now. I'll protect Senpai."



Her cold stare, the emitting ominous shadow…


""
Realizing that it's as she feared, Rin takes a step back.



Music: Breach

Video: Stronger (mirror)




""
It's too late when she clucks her tongue.
……No.
It's not too late or anything.
When Sakura reached for Ilyasviel, it was already too late.


"……I see. So you don't intend to stay quietly in your room anymore?"



"No. I don't need to listen to what you say anymore."



"Because I'm stronger."



The shadow dances.
Many shades of darkness emerge from the ground below Sakura and engulf the yard.
And from the shadow…
"Sakura, you"



…Emerges a swordsman who is contaminated in black.

"Saber, capture the Holy Grail. If she tries to resist, go as rough as you like."
""
Black Saber obeys without a word.
…There's no doubt about it.
What that shadow is.
Tohsaka Rin bites her lip, seeing what kind of fate awaits a Servant swallowed by the mud.

At that instant.



"!"



"Hah!"
A merciless attack.
A shadow with magical energy far surpassing that of Tohsaka Rin is fired.




"……!"
She rolls as she lands.
The fired shadow is on the same level as the black shadow.
It'll be the end if it touches her.
If it even grazes her, it will stick to her skin, covering her in an instant.



And after that.
If Tohsaka Rin is swallowed by the mud that even a Servant cannot escape, she will be absorbed without hope of resistance.











Rin realizes that the attacks are not from the black shadow, but a magic Sakura possesses.
That magic of Matou is to bind others.
But Sakura is originally from the Tohsaka familya shadow-user with an origin of the imaginary element, the imaginary number.
Matou Sakura is able to embody the black shadow to that degree because she has both of those attributes!







She controls both the black shadow and Saber, who has the greatest magical energy out of all the Servants.
…Even a Servant will not be able to match such a monstrous magus.



She stares at what Sakura has become, gasping for breath.
…She has no chance of winning, and she cannot escape.
It'd be a different story if she had a source of magical energy like the Holy Grail, but she doesn't have such a thing.



She suppresses her frustration by grumbling.







"Oh, you can't do that, Nee-san. It's dangerous if you stop there."
Sakura points her hand at Rin without hesitation.

There's no mercy.
Sakura smiles, enjoying the absolute dominance.



"Nowlet's play more, Nee-san.
I know you'll be caught in the end, but please keep running until then."
She smiles at her beloved sister.

Music: Stop









"Oh, is that all? You're not as strong as I thought, Nee-san."
She looks down at her helpless sister.
Wild breathing and heated cheeks.
Her older sister is covered with heavy oil, exciting even Sakura, who is of the same sex.

It's times like this I wonder if this game is just meant to cater to a really specific fetish.



"Kuh…! Ahh, haa………"



"Fufu. Then I'll be having you now. I was looking forward to this. This will be the first time I've eaten magical energy from a magus."

The gel-like shadow tightens around Tohsaka Rin.
The "meal" doesn't even last a second.

"Ah…… Hm"
"……It's good. I'm not full at all, but it helps a bit."
The last traces of magic fade from Tohsaka Rin.
That's the end.
Head down and chest heaving, Rin has no power to resist.
She has no way to fight back, but



So she has to kill her here.
Taking her magical energy and leaving her powerless isn't enough.
She has to kill Rin here, just as Rin tried to do to her.
She tries to convince herself as she opens her palms.