A tall building several hundred meters away from the Matou Family.
Tohsaka Rin stood at the edge of the railing, gazing far into the distance.
” Archer, can you see anything?
”
She looked at the white-haired man in a red windbreaker beside her.
After dark, concerned about Surtr’s actions, Rin had brought Archer here to scout.
To avoid being discovered, she didn’t dare get too close, but fortunately Archer’s eyesight was quite good.
” Caster and the others have entered the Matou Family’s house.
”
” Assassin blocked the door and used his Noble Phantasm, and then…
then he was instantly killed by Caster’s Master.
”
Archer stammered as he described the scene he had just witnessed.
Although it was indoors, the battle between the two took place right at the entrance, which happened to be seen squarely by Archer.
” Are you sure you’re not joking?
”
An incredulous voice came to her ears, and Rin widened her eyes as she looked at Archer.
” Assassin used a Noble Phantasm, and then was instantly killed, and by a Master at that?
”
She clearly recognized every single word, but why did it become completely incomprehensible when put together?
Even though she hadn’t witnessed a Servant battle yet, she knew from the materials left behind by her father that Servants were beings that magi could not contend with, let alone when the opponent had used a Noble Phantasm.
You must be kidding me, right?
” But what I said is indeed the truth.
”
Archer was also quite helpless.
” That Master is completely abnormal.
Not only is her combat power absurdly strong, but she also has a sword that looks like a Noble Phantasm, though she hasn’t used it for anything other than blocking Assassin’s Noble Phantasm.
”
” She even has a Noble Phantasm!
Then is she a Master or a Servant?
”
Rin scratched her somewhat dazed head.
Where on earth did such a freak of a Master who could defeat a Servant head-on come from?
” I’m afraid we need to treat them both as two Servants, and the opponent’s Servant is Caster.
If we let her construct her territory, it will probably become very troublesome.
”
Archer’s expression turned serious.
” If possible, we’d better eliminate them in the early stage.
“You sure make it sound easy.”
Rin was well aware of this, but if eliminating them could be that simple, it would be great.
Hmm.
For a moment, the scene fell somewhat silent.
“Oh, Caster has come out.”
A moment later, the situation seemed to change.
“But I don’t see that Master. Perhaps this is an opportunity.”
After a while longer, Archer, who hadn’t seen Surtr come out, suddenly said.
“Right now, we might be able to heavily injure that Caster.”
Because Command Spells existed, Archer didn’t speak with absolute certainty.
“Eh, speak of the devil, could this be a trap?”
Rin was no rigid, old-fashioned knight; facing an enemy far stronger than herself, a sneak attack was still a viable method.
But wasn’t this a bit too coincidental?
“Perhaps, but Rin, have you forgotten my Class?”
As he spoke, Archer raised his black longbow.
“Oh right, you’re an Archer.”
Rin clapped her hands.
Archer’s advantage was his long range, so there was no need to fear any traps.
“Then let’s give it a try. It would be best if we could wipe them out taking advantage of this opportunity.”
Rin instructed.
“Understood.”
As the words fell, Archer drew his bow and nocked an arrow.
Target, Medea.
Inside the Matou residence, following her perception, Surtr came before a plain wooden door.
Burning down the door, behind it was a downward stairway.
A nauseating malice drifted up from below, and the flapping sounds of insect swarms could be faintly heard.
Presumably, underground was that infamous worm pit.
She snapped her fingers lightly.
The flames surrounding her side seemed to receive an order, transforming into two swimming serpents that intertwined as they surged into the stairway.
No matter what was down below, burning it through once first was always right.
Consider it purification.
“Da, da, da…”
Following closely as her high heels stepped upon the stairwell, they collided with the cold ground to produce crisp echoes.
Walking like this for about ten-odd seconds and dealing with a few incoming bugs, Surtr arrived at a spacious underground space.
The dim underground space was lit up by the firelight.
Surtr stood upon the elevated platform extending from the bottom of the stairs, looking ahead, her brows furrowing involuntarily.
The structure of the worm pit was unsettling; the surrounding walls were hollowed-out square cavities, making one involuntarily think of some kind of insect nest.
Deep underground, black mud covered the ground, and upon it could be seen pearl-white insect eggs one by one.
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Tens of thousands?
Or even more?
Surtr could not count them.
The entire worm pit seemed to have turned into a culture dish for an insect swarm, and right at the very center of the worm pit was a huge, bloated black-and-red giant worm that occupied nearly half the space.
That was a rather plump bug with short limbs and a high-swelling abdomen.
Through the transparent membrane, the white insect eggs nurtured within could be clearly seen.
Barring accidents, it was a mother worm specially used for production.
Truly disgusting.
Even setting aside the influence of the black mud, the atmosphere here was unacceptable.
Surtr was not originally afraid of bugs, but she felt she might develop a psychological shadow regarding bugs afterwards.
After she descended into the worm pit, at the edge of the elevated platform, a Crest Worm crawled toward her, and the voice of Matou Zouken emanated from it.
It seemed he no longer dared to appear before Surtr.
“Caster’s Master, do you not plan to stop here? There shouldn’t be any enmity between us, right.”
“Assassin is already dead; there is no need for you to drive us to absolute ruin.”
Matou Zouken tried to negotiate with Surtr; after all, in his eyes, apart from both being participants in the Holy Grail War, the two had absolutely no enmity.
Since Assassin was already dead and he himself was already out, logically speaking, there was completely no need to fight to the death, right?
“If you are willing, we can cooperate.”
“Before you is this old man’s painstaking effort of the past ten years. With this old man’s help, winning the Holy Grail War will be a mere breeze for you.”
The Crest Worm’s gaze landed on Surtr, or more accurately, on the Lævateinn in her hand.
That was a Noble Phantasm, without a doubt.
Not just the Servant, even the Master had a Noble Phantasm.
Without a doubt, the opponent possessed the qualifications to contend for ultimate victory.
This caused Matou Zouken to inevitably harbor thoughts.
But Surtr had no intention of listening to the opponent’s nonsense at all.
“I do not cooperate with dead people.”
Flicking her finger lightly, a wisp of flame burned the bug before her into ashes.
“Don’t get too full of yourself, little girl!”
From another direction, Matou Zouken’s voice sounded once more, sounding like standard villain exit lines.
But this time he didn’t seem to be merely spouting harsh words.
On the ceiling, orange lights lit up one by one, and a certain kind of energy was accumulating, just as if it was about to explode.
No, it wasn’t just like it, it was truly going to explode!
The old bug wanted to tear down this basement!
No, he probably wanted to let these bugs go outside, which would definitely erupt into a massive riot.
Even if it posed no threat to Surtr at all, the swarm could still form cover, buying time for the other party to escape.
Quite insidious.
In that case, all she had to do was wipe out the bugs a step faster than him.
Figuring out what the opponent wanted to do, Surtr decisively turned her hand and thrust the flame sword into the ground.
From the immensely gushing flames, a clear shout came through.
“Lævateinn!”