Rin looked at Chihiro with a hint of excitement. "But this way, we'll have another powerful Servant on our side!"
Chihiro shook his head. "Don't be so optimistic. Even though Sigurd has divinity, he's still vulnerable to Gilgamesh's Heaven's ."
Rin's face fell. "Ah, what are we supposed to do about that then?"
Chihiro smiled fidently. "Don't worry. With so many of us here, do you really think we 't handle Gilgamesh?"
"Oh, did you summon another Servant?"
At that moment, Zhang Jiao, who'd heard the otion, came down from upstairs.
[Name: Zhang Jiao; Css: Caster; Gender: Male; Alig: Chaotic Good.]
[Strength: E; Endurance: E; Agility: D; Mana: A+; Luck: A; Noble Phantasm: A.]
[Css Skills: Territory Creation B; Item stru B.]
[Personal Skills: General of Heaven B-; Great Teacher A; Way of the Taiping EX.]
[Noble Phantasm: The Azure Sky is Already Dead, the Yellow Sky will Soon Rise (Rank A, Anti-Army, Range: 1-100, Max Targets: 500).]
"Hello."
Sigurd nodded politely to Zhang Jiao.
Rin looked at Chihiro. "So, should we start our operation tonight?"
Chihiro shook his head. "No, there's something else I want to take care of first."
She raised an eyebrow. "What are you pnning?"
He gave a cold smile. "Time to get some revenge for your sister."
"Wait, you mean…"
Rin immediately uood.
Chihiro smirked. "That's right. Tonight, we're taking care of the old worm."
He'd already despised Matou Zouken beyond words, but after seeing Zouken spying on Kariya the day before, Chihiro decided he couldn't dey getting rid of him any longer.
It would be disastrous if the system made an error and allowed Zouken to join the group.
Remember, Zouken was also ected to the Holy Grail War. He was like a time bomb waiting to go off.
So, after returning the night before, Chihiro started pnning to elimihe old worm food.
The reason he hadn't acted right away was twofold: he didn't want to act rashly, and he o make sure Zouken was still at his residence. After all, Zouken knew he had a Servant now; if he got scared and ran, hunting him down would be a hassle.
Killing this old monster was no easy feat.
Zouken's physical body was a mere shell; his true form had bee a swarm of crest worms, created frments of the Holy Grail itself. If Chihiro wasn't careful, Zouken might just slip away.
---
Nightfall, at the Matou Estate.
"Damn it, what the hell is going on with that brat Kariya?"
In the depths of the worm pit, Matou Zouken scowled.
He'd been Kariya for days but hadn't gleaned anything useful.
What kind of magic could this be, that he a 500-year-old magus couldn't decipher?
"Huh? What's this?"
Suddenly, Zouken sensed something strahe Matou residence was enveloped in magical energy. He quickly sent out his is to iigate.
Outside, a thick fog now surrouhe Matou property.
One of Zouken's is ventured into the mist, only to retreat immediately, disturbed.
"That damn kid!"
Realizing what was happening, Zoukehed. Only one person could have set up such a mystical barrier without his knowledge, the young magus with that Caster from overseas.
And he was right. The dense fog outside was indeed Zhang Jiao's handiwork.
The night before, Chihiro had asked Zhang Jiao to scout the Matou residend firm Zouken's presence. After firming that Zouken hadn't left, Zhang Jiao pnted a surveilnce charm in the shadows.
Today, after ensuring Zouken was still at home, they came prepared.
To prevent the old worm from esg, Chihiro had Zhang Jiao set up a maze barrier around the house.
Better safe than sorry when dealing with someone as slippery as Matou Zouken.
Zouken had been so focused on monit Kariya that he hadn't noticed what was happening around his own home. By the time he realized, it was already too te.
"Master, what should we do with these two?"
Sigurd had dragged out two unscious figures from ihe house: the Matou family head, Byakuya Matou, and his son, Shinji.
"Throw them ie room and lock the door."
Chihiro wasn't ied in killing them, so he dismissed them with a wave of his hand.
"Where's the old worm hiding?" Rin asked.
They'd practically annouheir presence, yet Zouken hadn't shown himself.
"He's probably in the worm pit."
Chihiro ruffled Rin's twin tails. "You stay here."
"Hey, why?" Rin asked, looking at Chihiro in fusion.
"Have you fotten what it's like in that worm pit?" Chihiro replied, giving her a knowing look.
Rin paused, shuddering as the memory came back to her. Rubbing her arms, she muttered in disgust, "Fine. I'll wait here."
Chihiro chuckled and then desded into the depths of the Matou mansion with Zhang Jiao by his side.
Guided by Zhang Jiao's sensing abilities, they easily bypassed the hidden spells, finding the entrao the underground passage leading to the worm pit.
Desding into the depths, a familiar yet revolting sight greeted them: a circur basement, filled with aangled, writhing mass of is that made a siing sound as they squirmed.
"There you are."
Across the pit, Zouke Chihiro, teeth bared.
"You old worm, you've lived long enough. It's time you retired."
Suppressing his revulsion, Chihiro gnced around the worm pit.
He was gd he hadn't let Tohsaka Rin e down, he was barely holding it together himself.
"What did you say?"
Zouken's voice dripped with venom as he processed Chihiro's words.
Had this boy somehow learned his secret?
No, that couldn't be. It was impossible. The secret of his soul-transference was known only to him; there was no way this young mage could have figured it out.
